Off the map
by glorellie
Summary: Post season 6 finale, Hotch gets an unexpected job offer from a man he's not very fond of. HP later.
1. Chapter 1

Name: **Off the map**

Rating: T

Summary: Story picks up right after the season six finale, Hotch gets an unexpected job offer from a man he's not very fond of. HP later.

Disclaimer: Not mine. If they were, there would be much more H/P scenes and HP would get together when the series ends.

A/N: This story is my idea of what could have happened after the season six finale. It has nothing to do with what actually happened in season seven.

A/N 2: Sandra was so nice to take a look at the story and point out some of my spelling mistakes.(Thank you for that, Sandra). So far chapters one to five are beta read. (The other chapters will follow.)

A/N 3: Reviews are welcome.

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><p>The drive back to the office was very quiet. Hotch was driving one car, with Rossi sitting in the passenger seat. Morgan, Reid and Seaver were in a second car in front of them. Neither Hotch nor Rossi felt like talking, so Hotch focused on the road and took the time to ponder the latest events and developments.<p>

It had been a tough case for everyone. He was glad they had been able to stop the killing, but he was also worried about his team now. Every case that was particularly hard on them made him wonder how much more they could take before they would break and it made him wonder how much more he could take. At this time, where they all had the chance to take on new paths, these questions became more important than ever. What if one of his team members had enough and wanted to leave? He told them, that he would understand it, but what about the others? How would they deal with it? Could they handle even more change? The loss of JJ and Emily had taken its toll on the team as such. With them they had had it all covered. They had known who was best at doing what or who would partner up with whom on this case or that case. It had worked. But now? Everything had changed. He himself had changed. He had withdrawn himself from his colleagues and focused entirely on Jack. It started when Emily faked her death. Ever since he had to carry that burden that came with knowing that she was alive, he felt uneasy when he was with the team. Sitting there talking with them about Emily's death all the while knowing she was alive, was one of the hardest things he ever had to do in his life. He did what he had to do, but it didn't mean he liked it or that it didn't cause him pain to abuse their trust like that. And he was fully aware that if they should ever find out the truth about Emily and him knowing, he would very likely lose the trust and respect of some people he proudly called his friends. But then what? Would they still be able to work together? With the BAU budget cuts, who knew, maybe they would never have to answer that question.

When they were back in Quantico, the team was heading to the conference room to clean up. A lot of things were on their minds. Hotch hang back, when his phone rang.

"Hotchner".

"Have you changed your mind about putting that bullet between Ian Doyle's eyes?"

Hotch stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the voice. No need for a name. He knew who the caller was.

"Why now? He replied coldly.

"Let's talk about that in person. Meet me in half an hour at "The Hook". The line went dead. No good-bye, see you later, take care.. Clyde Easter had just hung up.

Hotch knew, if he wanted to make it to the bar in time he would have to leave right away. He went to his office and grabbed some files he wanted to take home with him. Then he went over to the conference room. He heard Garcia's voice when he stepped inside:

"If I weren't so exhausted, I would toast us."

He pressed his lips together. This team always gave 150 % no matter what. They deserved a break. "Go home and get some rest. Nobody needs to come in until nine", he said and then added, "thirty".

With that he turned around and left. The last thing he heard, was Garcia saying "We were supposed to talk..." She was confused, about his behavior, but there was nothing he could do about that. Until he knew what had brought Clyde Easter back in town, he thought it best not to mention him to anyone.

"The Hook" was a place where you could go, if you wanted to drink a beer and not be bothered by anyone. It was dimly lit and there was nothing cozy or nice about it. It was there to serve the one purpose, that was to provide cold beer. The paint was falling of the walls, but the furniture and the floor were clean. All kinds of people were coming here. Men in suits, women in jeans and tank tops, men and women in their work place uniform. Nobody cared.

Hotch spotted Easter sitting in a booth to the left and slipped in across from him.

"Agent Hotchner, glad you could make it." He waved the waitress to bring Hotch a beer.

When he saw Hotch disapprove, he continued "Don't worry, my treat."

"Why am I here?" Hotch asked coolly.

Easter waited till the waitress had put a glass in front of Hotch, before he answered.

"Emily misses you, you know. I don't know why that is. Must be your sparkling personality. Of course she didn't really say the words, but it's pretty obvious the way she not? talks about you and the other FBI suits."

So he knows, Hotch thought. He wasn't surprised.

"Do you miss her, too? I'd say yes. The way you were ready to jump in the ring for her, very impressive. You know one could almost suspect, you have some feelings for her, but according to the grapevine you don't have feelings. A very handy trait I say."

"Are you just here to annoy me or do you have actually something to say to me."

Easter snuffled with delight. He was enjoying himself.

"Fine. Here's the deal. I want you on my team to catch Ian Doyle."

"Catch?" Hotch asked disbelievingly.

"Well,..." Both man knew, that from Easters point of view there was no dead or alive, when it came to Ian Doyle.

"The FBI has a team looking for Doyle and I doubt you want to work with them." Hotch pointed out.

"To much bureaucracy."

"If the FBI is not in, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to quit and join me. Small team. We can move fast and have access to all kinds of information."

"You want me to quit the FBI?"

"That sounds so drastic when you say it. People quit their jobs all the time. But since it is such a big issue for you: Officially you would be assigned to special ops." Now Hotch was impressed. If this was true, Easter would need some very good connections, to pull it off.

"My director?"

"Would get the memo to not ask questions. Bonus for her: she can save some money on the BAU budget." So Doyle knew about that as well.

"Why me?"

"It pains me to admit it, but you are good and I want the best."

"My team?"

"Like I said, small group. Less attention."

"They could help. They are very effective."

"Of course they are! And they will keep doing a fantastic job without you."

Hotch knew he wouldn't be able to tell them what he would be doing.

"Hey, and I'm not a bad guy. I give you two days to think it over and to find out if you can live without your precious team for some time and most of all if you could live without your son for a while if necessary. Doyle isn't staying in DC. So we need to go where he is."

Easter emptied his beer and stood up.

"Think about it. I'm going to contact you again. And since you are all about your team I should mention that one of your people is already on board." Hotch's head flew up, when he heard the news.

Easter just shrugged his shoulders.

"Nobody knows him better than she does."

With that he left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Off the map - Chapter Two**

Rating: K

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><p>First Hotch didn't move. He just starred at the now vacant seat across from him.<p>

Leaving the team. These three words were brawling in his head. Easter wanted him to leave the BAU. His first reaction was to say: No! Never! But damn, there was a but that wanted to be heard. He needed to think. Without paying the still untouched beer in front of him any attention, Hotch got up and left the bar.

When he entered his apartment, he felt exhausted and wide awake at the same time. He poured himself a glass of Bourbon and sat down on the couch.

Easter. He didn't trust that bastard. Could he even think about working with him? He had been Emily's team leader on that undercover assignment and had failed to protect her from Doyle.

Emily. She was alive somewhere and apparently hunting Ian Doyle. He felt a bit bitter when he thought about her. If she just came to him and talked to him or anyone else on the team instead of running away, maybe things would have turned out differently. But, she had contacted Easter instead. Rationally he knew that she did what she did to protect the people closest to her, but emotionally he was disappointed she hadn't spoken to him. He had thought that they had that kind of trust between them.

His team. Accepting the offer would mean leaving the team. They were the best people he ever worked with and he would go to hell and back for anyone of them. He was 100 % sure of that. But wasn't this the crux of his dilemma? For him Emily was and always would be part of his team, so didn't that mean he should do everything to help her? As long as Ian Doyle was out there she had to be dead , but if they could get him behind bars again, couldn't she stop hiding?

Hotch put the glass down on the table and rubbed his face in frustration. There were so many things to consider.

Jack. Easter said that Doyle wasn't in D.C. That could mean he was hiding anywhere in the world. Europe, Canada, Russia, everything was possible. If he had to go overseas, he might not be able to see Jack for weeks, maybe months. Jack was used to him going out of town for some days, but how would he deal with it, if he was gone for a longer period of time? Could he leave his son for weeks? He wasn't sure.

Exhaustion swept over Hotch like a wave. He knew he needed to sleep. Without being close to making a decision, he went to bed.

When his phone rang at _ 07:00 a.m. he was up already, drinking coffee. After spending only a few restless hours in bed, he didn't feel very rested. The display showed, that it was JJ calling.

"Hotchner"

"Good Morning. I thought you would be up. I heard Easter talked to you."

Hotch paused for a moment.

"Yes."

"And?"

"The verdict is still out."

"I understand. That's why I'm calling. I would like you to meet someone. Would it be okay if we came by your office later?"

"Yes."

"Great, I see you later then."

JJ was in on this. So Easter seemed to have the right connections after all.

An hour later Hotch was entering the BAU office. He had done this a million times, but today was different. Today he slowed down his pace on his way to his office and let his eyes wander over the empty chairs and desks. This place had become a second home for him or considering the actual amount of time he spent here it was more a home to him than his own apartment. Easter was wrong. This wasn't just a job. This was what he lived for.

30 minutes later JJ knocked on his office door and entered with a warm smile on her lips. He went up from his chair to greet her.

"JJ! Good to see you."

"It has been too long since the last time, hasn't it?"

"Yes."

They sat down on his couch. JJ took her time to study him. On first sight he looked the usual: stoic leader with everything under control, but on the second look you could see the lines under his eyes. To JJ he looked worn out.

"How are you doing?" he asked friendly.

"Good. I'm doing good."

She smiled once more and Hotch thought how much he missed that smile. In difficult times when he had had to made a hard decision, JJs smile could always assure him that he was doing the right thing or remind him to never give up hope, to always believe in a good outcome, no matter how bad the situation was. Even now he felt, that with her here to talk, he would be able to make the right choice.

"But I'm not here to talk about me" JJ continued.

"You said, you wanted me to meet someone?"

"Yes, he will be here in half an hour. I wanted to talk to you first."

"Easter said, he is going after Doyle and he wants me to join him."

"That's correct."

"Who is he working for?"

"Interpol."

"Interpol?" Hotch questioned.

"Yes. But, well, what did he tell you about how this came up?"

Hotch stayed silent.

"It was me. I contacted him and asked him to put together a team and to make you part of it."

Hotch eyes went big. He hadn't seen that one coming.

"You?" he asked surprised.

JJ nodded.

"Emily contacted me last week. She had had an idea where Doyle could be. So I looked into it and it turned out, there might be something to it. Emily suggested to get Easter involved, because he already knows Doyle and has profiled him before. But she doesn't trust him anymore, so I suggested to get you involved."

"Why?"

"Because you are the best and because she trusts you more than anything in the world."

"I'm not so sure about that."

JJ looked down at her hands and smiled once more. Men sometime could be so oblivious when it came to the feelings of other people.

"Trust me. She does."

Hotch got up and walked around a bit.

"What about the BAU, Jack? It's not that simple."

"I know I'm asking a lot of you and I wouldn't do this, if I didn't believe, that there was a real chance to catch Doyle. She's my best friend, Hotch. If there's a chance to get her back, I'm willing to _ take it."

Hotch stopped and stared out of his window.

"It's only temporary. When you get back you will be in charge of the team again."

Hotch shook his head.

"Without Emily we are already missing a profiler. If I go someone new has to come in."

JJ chuckled.

"Rossi told me you could use another head."

"He did?"

"Yes, and I agreed to take the job."

Hotch turned around to face her.

"I'm coming back to the BAU, Hotch."

"Dave, didn't say anything to me!"

"I asked him not to. When he asked me, if I could see myself become a profiler I was already working with Easter. Since these two things are connected, I figured I talk to you about both at the same time. Would you be okay with me coming back? "

"Of course! You belong in the BAU, JJ."

"Good. So how do you feel about going on that mission?"

"I don't know. It's still... I need to talk to Jessica and Jack."

"Of course."

"Does this mean, that Dave knows?"

"No. I didn't tell him, why he shouldn't talk to you. I just claimed that I wanted to talk to you first."

Someone knocked on Hotch's closed office door. When the door opened, a man in a dark gray suit, with blond hair and blue eyes entered. JJ got up from the couch.

"Hotch, this is Agent Paul Meunier, CIA. He would be part of Easter's team "

"Agent Hotchner, it's good to meet you. I have heard a lot about you."

The two men shook hands.

"Agent Meunier. I'm sorry, I can't say the same about you."

"That's okay, it means that I'm doing my job right."

"Agent Meunier can fill you in about what we know about Doyle."

JJ grabbed her purse.

"I leave you two alone." She turned to Hotch.

"Hotch, the decision is all yours. I can understand if you don't want to do it. All I can do is give you the information you need to find out what's right for you."

With that she left.

Hotch gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

"Please, sit down."

As his guest sat down, he used the time get around his desk and sit down in his own chair.

"So Agent Meunier, where is Ian Doyle?"

"Call me Paul and we believe that Doyle is in Italy."


	3. Chapter 3

**Off the map – Chapter Three **

Rating: T

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><p>Twenty minutes later Hotch and Meunier walked out of his office to the elevator. The rest of the BAU team was working at their desks. When the two men walked past, all eyes were on them.<p>

"I hope I was able to help you, Agent Hotchner." Meunier said when the elevator doors opened.

"We'll see. But thank you for coming by."

"No problem."

Meunier stepped inside the elevator.

The two men nodded at each other and the elevator doors closed.

Hotch took a moment before he turned around.

He hadn't given any definite answer about what he would do yet, but considering what JJ had told him and what he had heard from Meunier, and most of all what his own gut was telling him, he knew he was going to join Easter and Meunier.

He walked back to the BAU office. Morgan, Reid and Garcia were standing next to Reid's desk. They all looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety. They knew something was going on. Sooner or later he had to talk to them, but for now he just walked past them with a stern face. There was not much he could tell them anyway and the rest he had to figure out for himself first.

He went straight to his office and closed the door behind him. If he wanted to go, there were things to sort out and arrangement to be made. He picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.

"Hello"

"Hi Jessica, it's Aaron."

"Is anything wrong?"

"No, everything is fine, but listen, there is something I would like to talk to you about tonight."

"Sure, how about you and Jack come over for dinner?"

"Great. See you later then."

"Bye".

He could only do this, if Jessica would take care of Jack. She always took care of his son when he had to go out of town for a case, but this was different. This time he would probably be gone for a few weeks.

He looked around his office. Morgan would have to step in as team leader. Hotch had no doubts that Morgan could do it. He had proven that before. He picked up a file from his desk. There were lots of things he needed to go through and finish before he could go, but at least, he didn't need to give Morgan the crash course on how to run the BAU this time.

At 4 p.m. Rossi came to Hotch's office. When he walked in he suspiciously eyed the file boxes Hotch had put out on the floor.

"I had a fantastic burrito for lunch, how about you?" he asked, fully aware that Hotch hadn't left his office for a lunch break.

"I had coffee." Hotch answered simply.

"Good substitute for food I hear."

"I have a lot to do."

"That I can see." Rossi gestured to the file boxes and papers that Hotch had piled up on the couch.

"Anything I can help you with?"

"No, thanks."

"Okay then." Rossi said, but didn't leave.

"Aaron, is there anything you want to talk about."

"No. How about you? Anything you want to talk about with me?"

Once more Rossi looked at him suspiciously. What did Hotch have in mind?

"No."

"Good."

"I guess I leave you to whatever you are doing here then."

"Dave, I know you are looking out for this team...and me, and I want you to know that I appreciate it. I know you will... " Hotch started, but didn't finish. He had been about to say be there for them when I'm gone. Instead he repeated:

"I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Rossi said, puzzled by Hotch's words. He had suspected, that something fishy was going on before, but now he was sure.

For a second day in a row Hotch was the first to leave. When he had said his good-byes to Rossi, Dave had asked him if he had time for a drink before he had to go, but Hotch declined by saying that he was expected at Jessica's.

Jack had been thrilled to see his Dad come to pick him up from his day care instead of his babysitter or Jessica. He talked non-stop on the way to Jessica's house. Hotch only got a view words in. He silently savored this small moment of bliss.

As promised Jessica had cooked dinner for them. Since her husband Noah, was out of town, it was only the three of them. From the glances she gave him during the meal, Hotch could tell she was curious about what he wanted to talk about. After dinner Hotch allowed Jack to watch some cartoons giving him and Jessica room to talk.

When he and Jessica where alone in the kitchen loading the dish washer, he started to explain, what was on his mind.

"A friend of mine is currently in a complicated situation. She has to hide from someone who wishes her ill."

"Ex-husband?" Jessica asked.

"No. It's work related."

"Criminal then." Jessica knew what Hotch did for a living. It wasn't hard to guess that his friend would be law enforcement as well.

"Yes. Now yesterday I was asked join a team,that is going after the man."

"Go on."

"The problem is, I would have to go out of town for a while."

"How long?"

"I don't know. Maybe only some days, maybe weeks."

They sat down at the kitchen table.

"I don't know what to do." Hotch continued. "I want to help my friend, but I have to think about Jack first."

"He could stay with us, if that's what you're worried about." Hotch gave her a questioning look.

"Really. It wouldn't be a problem. I love Jack and Noah loves him too."

"It's not just that. I don't want Jack to feel abandoned. I don't want him to think, that I just go away and leave him here. I don't want him to think there is anything more important to me than him." Once more Hotch felt guilty just thinking about leaving his son for more than a week.

"I'm not going to lie and tell you that Jack wouldn't have a problem with it. He loves you just as much as you love him, of course he will be sad to not have you around."

Seeing how hangdog Hotch looked Jessica continued "But, I know you. You would feel miserable, if you didn't help your friend. You would blame yourself. My advice: talk to Jack. He is not a baby anymore. Explain to him that you are going to help a friend. Because that's what friends do for each other."

Hotch nodded. Jessica was right. He would feel guilty for leaving Jack, but on the other hand felt that he owed it to Emily to help her. She had become a good friend for him. Especially after Foyet had attacked him, she had gone out of her way to be there for him. He couldn't just ignore that, even when he currently had mixed feelings about her actions before her disappearing. He made a decision to talk to Jack later.

A good moment came, when Jack and Hotch where lying in Jack's bed later that night. Hotch had just read a story to his son and had put the book on the nightstand.

"Hey buddy, there is something I want to talk to you about. You and Marty are good friends, right?"

"Yes! He's my best friend!"

"Daddy has friends, too. You know, like Dave."

"Yes. I like Dave."

"One of my friends needs my help. You would help Marty if he has a problem, right?"

"Yes. I helped him find his soccer shoes, when he couldn't find them."

"You see, friends help each other. That's why I'm going to help my friend. But I have to go away for that for while."

"Like when you're working a case?"

"No, it's going to be longer?"

"Can't you help your friend from here?"

"I wish I could."

"But I don't want you to go!" Jack whined.

"I know. And I promise I will be back as soon as I can."

"You have to help your friend really, really fast, daddy."

"I try. And when I get back, I'm going to take some time off of work and we will do something together, something you can choose. How's that? While I'm gone you can think about what you want to do and when I get back you tell me."

"Okay."

"Good. Time to sleep now."

Hotch tugged the little boy in and kissed him good night.

"I love you, daddy."

"I love you too, buddy."

When Hotch arrived at the office the next morning, the first thing he did was to call JJ. He told her that he had given the offer some thought and that he had decided to do it, but only on his own terms. She was okay with it and would start on the necessary paper work right away. She would also make contact with Easter

Hotch got the text message twenty minutes later. Easter wanted to meat at a close by coffee shop at noon. It gave Hotch some more time to wrap things up at the BAU.

This time it was Hotch who was waiting for Easter. Easter scanned the room and when he spotted Hotch sitting on one of the tiny tables he acknowledged him and went to the counter to place an order.

Hotch wondered it Easter was ordering tea, but knew better. Easter might be British, but in this businesses you could only roll on coffee. Hotch remembered that Reid liked to drink tea, but then Reid was Reid. One of a kind.

Easter came over and sat across from Hotch. Drinking coffee, black.

"So here we are again, "he started.

"Cut the BS, Easter. If you want this to work, you better show me why JJ thought you'd be the right man for this. Here's the deal. I'm willing to join your team. I want to catch Doyle and get him behind bars again. You've got a hunch where Doyle is? It better be right, 'cause I'm only giving this three month. We don't have Doyle then, I'm out. Are we clear about that?"

"Very clear."

"Good." Hotch got up.

"I have to get back to the office."

"We're leaving tomorrow. I sent you the flight details." Hotch was about to leave when Easter asked:

"It is about you son, isn't it? The time limit?"

"If you had children, you wouldn't have to ask."

Hotch took some steps to the door, when Easter called once more.

"Hey Hotchner!" Hotch turned around.

"You don't need to bring these" Easter gestured to Hotch's black suit and tie.

Hotch didn't bother with a response. He just walked out.

When Hotch got back to the office, Strauss had left him a message that she wanted to see him. He went to her office and they had a short talk. She had gotten the message that his services were requested for a special operation, but that was all she had gotten. When she talked to him, she was clearly pissed off about being kept in the dark, but there was nothing she could do. Hotch explained, that he didn't know how long he would be gone, that Morgan would be team leader and that he would tell the team right away. Since there was nothing more to say, he went to the BAU office. He told everyone to be in the conference room in five minutes.

The whole team was waiting for him, when he walked in. They expected that they had a new case, but when Hotch walked in without a case file in his hand, they knew this meeting was about something else.

"Thank you for coming." He sat down. "Something urgent has come up. I told you about that other offices might be interested in your services."

"Oh my god! Someone is leaving!" Garcia burst out. The team exchanged apprehensive looks and then turned to Hotch, anticipating him to deny Garcia's surmise. They where quite surprised, when he said instead:

"You are right Garcia."

"But, who...?"Reid asked baffled.

"Me. I was asked to join a special operation. It classified, so there is not much I can tell you. What I can tell is, that this is only temporary. Morgan, you will be team leader in the meantime."

"But Sir, you said, you would stay!" Garcia said accusingly.

"I know, but I didn't know about this assignment then."

"It must be something pretty important, otherwise I can't see you giving up the BAU" Rossi observed.

"It is."

"When are you going to leave?" Morgan asked.

"Tomorrow."

"That's quite _ short notice!" Morgan called.

"I know. But I know you will be able to handle it."

The door opened and JJ stepped in. Now everyone besides Hotch was getting really confused.

"If everything works out, you will understand eventually. But for now, you have to trust me, that this is in the interest of everyone in this room.

Hotch looked at JJ. "Should I...?"

"Yes. Go ahead."

"Since the team will be one profiler short, there will be a new profiler on the team. Thanks to Dave it will be someone you know."

Hotch looked at JJ and smiled. Morgan and Garcia understood right away. Only Reid was not picking up on what was implied.

"Who?" he asked confused.

"Me, Spencer. I'm coming back." JJ said and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I have some things to take care of, but I hope to make the transfer in the next two weeks." JJ looked in everyone's face,

"Okay. That's all." Hotch got up from the table.

"Morgan, I need to talk to JJ now, but I would like to talk to you about what you need to know, while I'm gone later."

"Sure."

Hotch and JJ walked over to Hotch's office. When the door was closed, Hotch asked:

"You think they are okay with this?"

"Sure. Taken aback, but okay."

"How about you? Are you okay?"

"Yes.

They talked some more about Hotch's mission and JJ joining the team. When they were done, JJ went to talk to the rest of the team, while she sent Morgan in to Hotch.

When Hotch left that night to go home he knew his team would be fine. It was one thing he wouldn't need to worry about. There were enough other things to keep him awake. Would Jack be okay? Could he work with Easter? Could they get a hold of Doyle? One thing so only appeared to him when he was sitting on the plane the next day: What would it be like to see Emily again?


	4. Chapter 4

**Off the Map- Chapter four **

Rating: K+

A/N : Anyone else thrilled for season 7? Can't for it to start! The gang is back together!

A/N 2 : I'm glad, that you're still reading.

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><p>Hotch was sitting in the passenger seat of a rental car, studying the landscape. Easter was driving and Meunier was sitting in the back. No one was talking. They had arrived in Italy around 10 a.m. Spending most of his days in his office, he felt that even with his sunglasses on the sun light was extremely bright. They were heading in the direction of the province of Siena. Easter had explained that they would set up their operation base in a village south of Siena, in the Val d'Orcia. Hotch remembered being to Siena with Haley. They had both been in college when they had spent a summer backpacking trough Europe. Haley had loved the large Gothic cathedral.<p>

"Here we go" Easter announced after a while and turned right into a small lane that led to a big dusty yard that was surrounded by Cypress trees on the one side and an old building and a large barn on the other side. Easter parked close to the wooden entrance door and all three men climbed out of the car. They were immediately reminded of how hot it was. Hotch was glad he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt instead of a dark suit. He looked around. The next house was some miles away. The property was nicely settled on top of a hill. It was encircled by olive groves and meadows.

Easter and Meunier had started unloading the car when, Easter cried out:

"Ah! Here she is! Hey Hotchner! Didn't I tell you one of yours would be working with us?"

Hotch turned around. Three people had come out of the building, a man and two women. The woman on the right was around 65 years old and had gray hair. She carried herself with pride and natural self confidence. The man was about her age and his appearance was that of man who had spent lots of hours outside. Hotch took this in without processing it. He's mind was set on the second woman.

There in the bright light of the sun stood Emily Prentiss.

On the outside he kept his stoic face, but on the inside he was quite moved to see her. He was overwhelmed to see with his own eyes, that she was indeed alive and healthy. He noticed that she had lost some weight and that her hair was longer than it used to be, but all in all she looked just like he remembered her. Her clothes were irritating him a bit. She was wearing a black skirt and sandals topped by an emerald tank top. Not a sight he was used to, but he admitted to himself, that she looked good in it.

Emily looked at him with her dark eyes and he could tell she was as tense as he was. There were lots of unresolved issues between them, but for now they had to wait. He made a step towards her and as he did so did Emily.

They were standing in front of each other with still a good distance between them.

"Hello Hotch."

"Emily."

"Did you have a good flight."

"Yes. Fine."

"That's good."

Out of words, they just starred at each other.

"Oh come on! " Easter blurt out. "That's it? No hugging, kissing, screaming? How bloody boring is that?"

"Sorry to disappoint you." Emily said dryly.

"That man threatened to kill me if anything happened to you, I think you owe him at least a hug."

Another man might have blushed by Easters words, but not Hotch. He didn't show any reaction.

Emily let that new information sink in. Then she gave Hotch a shy smile.

"It's good to see you again."

Hotch thought how much he had missed that smile. And how much he had missed her.

Then it was time to get acquainted with the rest of their little group. The old woman's name was Rosa and the man's was Giovanni. They owned the house and the olive grove and rented rooms to tourists for some extra money when their children weren't visiting. Rosa liked to have a full house, but her two daughters were living in Florence with their families and her son owned a carpentry in Pisa. She was happy to have four people staying with her now and had been very exited to find out that Emily was fluent in Italian, when she had arrived two days earlier. It made communication a lot easier because Rosa only knew a bit of English. Giovanni's English wasn't much better. For their visitors it had the advantage that they could talk openly and not worry about Rosa and Giovanni hearing anything they shouldn't.

The three men grabbed their luggage and the whole party went inside. In contrast to the heat outside it was quite cool inside. Giovanni showed the men to their rooms. They were all on the second floor, where Emily had already moved into another room. Rosa's and Giovanni's private rooms were located on the first floor. The rooms were decorated with old wooden furniture and Hotch guessed that they were family heirlooms. Rosa had put a vase with orange and yellow flowers in every room and there was a smell of freshly washed linen in the air.

After they settled in they met outside on the patio. There were lots of comfortable chairs around a big iron table. Rosa had put a jar with water and some glasses in the middle of the table, then she had gone back to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Hotch sat down in one of the chairs and filled a glass with water. After the long journey he was thirsty. He watched how Emily and Clyde talked at the far end of the patio and wondered what they were discussing. Meunier came and sat next to him.

"Agent Hotchner."

"It's Aaron."

"Okay, Aaron. Nice place, huh?"

"Yes, indeed."

They leaned back in their chairs and enjoyed the scenery around them.

"So tell me, what's the thing between you and Clyde? It doesn't look as if you were best buds." Paul asked curious.

"He is testing me. He tries to push my buttons, to see if I can hold my own against him. It's his way to find out if I'm worth his time."

"In other words: He provokes you, to see if you two could be friends."

"I doubt that he and I will ever be friends, so it's more a question if he can accept me as equal."

"Man, you profilers are complicated."

Hotch chuckled.

"No, not really."

"What about Emily?"

"Emily?"

"Yes. What's the story with her?"

"No, story. We worked together."

Hotchs eyes wandered back to Emily and Doyle.

"Really? That's it?" Meunier wasn't buying it. The odd welcoming between Emily and Hotch and Hotchs body language right now told him there was more.

When Hotch didn't answer he let the subject go. If the other man didn't want to talk about it, then it was fine with him. As opposed to Clyde he could accept, that whatever happened or not happened between Emily and Aaron was non of his business.

Easter and Emily walked over to them and sat in the chairs on the other side of the table.

"Now that everybody feels at home we can talk business." Easter started.

"We have three locations we consider possible hiding places for Dolye."

"I'm not a profiler, so I have to ask this: What made you think that Doyle is in Italy?" Meunier asked.

"When Doyle came looking for me, he was driven by revenge for his son. Now that he knows that the boy is alive, he will do everything that he can to find him." Emily answered.

"Yes, but as far as I know the boy is not in Italy. So wouldn't Doyle rather hide in the country where his son is?"

"Doyle is on every most wanted list in Europe, Canada and the US. He has to be very careful about his moves. So far he only knows that his son is alive and that only Emily knows where he is." Easter said.

"That's why she had to die." Hotch remarked matter-of-factly. "For him she is the only one between him and his son. He's a psychopath. He would do absolutely everything to make her talk. From killing and torturing the people closest to her to killing random people. He would not stop before he would find his son." Hotch stared at Emily intensely. Saying the words out lout, assured him once more that it had been the right decision. Dolye would have used all means to break Emily if she had been alive. It wasn't just a question of protecting her, the team or her mother. They had agreed, that if Doyle couldn't get to them he would kill others, probably families and would make sure Emily would know it was because of her.

There was a silent pause for a moment, where everyone pondered what man they were dealing with.

"So why Italy?" Meunier got back to the original topic.

"If Doyle can't be with his son, it's most likely he will hide at a place where he feels close to him. His Tuscan estate is the place he would most associate with Declan, because that's where they spend their last happy days together." Emily explained.

"He can't go back to the estate itself, so he would choose a place close to it."

"Doyle had some friends in the area. We believe he is staying with one of them" Easter continued.

"We narrowed it down to four men: Guido Fiore, Matteo Aretino, Luigi Montale and Benito Gadda."

"Fiore owns a winery. Aretino comes from a wealthy family and has his hands in a lot of ventures, most of them on the other side of legal. His family has a large estate near Siena. Montale makes his money with exporting olives, but occasionally it's not just olives you can find in the shipping containers. Gadda owns a restaurant with a very busy back room."

"The thing is we don't know for sure if Doyle is staying with anyone of them." Emily pointed out.

"What's the plan? Hotch asked.

"We split into two teams and start observing." Easter answered.

"We start with Fiore and and Aretino, because they are the ones, we think Doyle most likely will turn to for help."

"Sounds good." Meunier said.

"I have files for you which contain pictures, information about their back round, their habits, the places they work and live and so on."

Suddenly a loud clangor came from inside the house followed by some loud cursing by Rosa.

Emily rose to her feet. "I'll go check, if Rosa needs some help."

When she was gone, Hotch asked:

"What do they think we are doing here?"

"Sightseeing. Look like you're having fun. Or at least not like it's the end of the world." Easter replied.

Emily came back and announced :

"Everything is under control. Dinner is ready in twenty minutes."

"Just enough time to stretch our legs." Easter got up from his chair and turned to the left, where the patio ended and the grass began.

"How will we partner up?" Meunier called.

"Well, if Agent Hotchner doesn't mind, I will work with Emily while you will be his side kick"

Hotch stared at him like he was ready to kill him, but stayed silent. Emily wasn't so cool about it.

"You're such an ass!" she cried.

"Thanks darling. Now that's settled – see you later!" With that he walked off.

"I think I will follow his lead" Paul said with a smile and went off.

Hotch became aware that it was only Emily and him now. His body tensed and every little sound around them suddenly underlined the heavy silence between them. He wanted to ask how she had been, if she had fully recovered from her injuries, what she's been up to, but he found it hard to find the right words when he remembered how he had pretended to bury her.

"I..." Emily began.

"Yes?" Hotch looked her right in the eyes. It made him stop breathing. There were so many emotions in her eyes: hurt, loneliness, fear, hope, yearning.

Emily quickly dropped her head. She hadn't intended to show him so much of what was going on inside her. She pressed her lips together and got herself back under control before she faced him again.

"I wanted to thank you, for coming here."

Hotch could tell she had put up her defenses and wondered what she was protecting herself from.

"It was the right thing to do."

"Did you have any problems...?"

"No. JJ took care of everything. And Jack is staying with Jessica."

"How is he?"

"He is good. Loves to play soccer."

They both had to smile.

Before they could say more, Rosa came outside with a pile of dishes. She said something in Italian and Hotch understood so much as that she had asked Emily to help her set up the table.

"Con piacere! Emily answered and moved to the door to go inside to get more flatware. Hotch had had the same idea and they almost bumped into each other.

"Sorry" he apologized.

"No problem."

They looked at each other and made a silent deal to continue their talk another time.


	5. Chapter 5

Name: **Off the map**

Rating: T

Summary: Story picks up right after the season six finale, Hotch gets an unexpected job offer from a man he's not very fond of. HP later.

Disclaimer: Not mine. If they were, there would be much more H/P scenes.

A/N: If you are not familiar with "Lauren" and "Supply and Demand" you might not understand everything.

The drive back to the office was very quite. Hotch was driving one car, with Rossi sitting in the passenger seat. Morgan, Reid and Seaver were in a second car in front of them. Neither Hotch nor Rossi felt like talking, so Hotch focused on the road and took the time to ponder on the latest events and developments.

It had been a tough case for everyone. He was glad they had been able to stop the killing, but he was also worried about his team now. Every case that was particularity hard on them made him wonder how much more they could take before they would break and it mad him wonder how much more he could take. At this time, where they all had the chance to take on new paths, these questions became more important than ever. What if one of his team members had enough and wanted to leave? He told them, that he would understand it, but what about the others? How would they deal with it? Could they handle even more change? The lose of JJ and Emily had taken it's toll on the team as such. With them they had had it all covered. They had known who was best at doing what or who would partner up with whom on this case or that case. It had worked. But now? Everything had changed. He himself had changed. He had withdrawn himself from his colleagues and focused entirely on Jack. It started when Emily faked her death. Ever since he had to carry that burden that came with knowing that she was alive, he felt uneasy when he was with the team. Sitting there talking with them about Emily's death all the while knowing she was alive, was one of the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life. He did what he had to do, but it didn't mean he liked it or that it didn't caused him pain to abuse their trust like that. And he was fully aware that if they should ever find out the truth about Emily and him knowing, he would very likely loose the trust and respect of some people he proudly called his friends. But what then? Would they still be able to work together? With the cuts to the BAU budget, who knew, maybe they would never have to answer that question.

When they where back in Quantico, the team was heading to the conference room to clean up. A lot of things where on their minds. Hotch hang back, when his phone rang.

"Hotchner".

"Have you changed your mind about putting that bullet between Ian Doyles eyes?"

Hotch stopped dead in his track when he heard the voice. No need for a name. He knew who the caller was.

"Why now? He replied coldly.

"Let's talk about that in person. Meet me in half an hour at "The Hook". The line went dead. No good-bye, see you later, take care.. Clyde Easter had just hang up.

Hotch knew, if he wanted to make it to the Bar in time he would have to leave right away. He went to his office and graped some files he wanted to take home with him. Then he went over to the conference room. He heard Garcias voice when he stepped inside:

"If I weren't so exhausted, I would toast us."

He pressed his lips together. This team always gave 150 % no matter what. They deserved a break. "Go home and get some rest. Nobody needs to come in until nine", he said and than added, "thirty".

With that he turned around and left. The last thing he heard, was Garcia saying "We were supposed to talk..." She was confused, about his behavior, but there was nothing he could do about that. Until he knew what had brought Clyde Easter back in town, he thought it best not to mention him to anyone.

"The Hook" was a place where you could go, if you wanted to drink a beer and not be bothered by anyone. It was dimly lite and there was nothing cozy or nice about it. It was there to serve the one purpose, that was to provide cold beer. The paint was falling of the walls, but the furniture and the floor were clean. All kinds of people where coming here. Men in suits, women in jeans and tank tops, men and women in their work place uniform. Nobody cared.

Hotch spotted Easter sitting in a booth to the left and slipped in across from him.

"Agent Hotchner, glad you could make it." He waved the waitress to bring Horch a beer.

When he saw Hotch disapprove, he continued "Don't worry, my treat."

"Why am I here?" Hotch asked coolly.

Easter waited till the waitress had put a glass in front of Hotch, before he answered.

"Emily misses you, you know. I don't now why that is. Must me your sparkling personality. Of course she didn't really say the words, but it's pretty obvious the way she not talks about you and the other FBI suits."

So he knows, Hotch thought. He wasn't surprised.

"Do you miss her to? I say yes. The way you were ready to jump in the ring for her, very impressive. You know one could almost suspect, you have some feelings for her, but according to the grapevine you don't have feelings. A very handy trait I say."

"Are you just here to annoy me or do you have actually something to say to me."

Easter snuffled with delight. He was enjoying himself.

"Fine. Here's the deal. I want you on my team to catch Ian Doyle."

"Catch?" Hotch asked disbelievingly.

"Well,..." Both man knew, that from Easters point of view there was no dead or alive, when it came to Ian Doyle.

"The FBI has a team looking for Doyle and I doubt you want to work with them." Hotch pointed out.

"To much bureaucracy."

"If the FBI is not in, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to quit and join me. Small team. We can move fast and have access to all kinds of information."

"You want me to quit the FBI?"

"That's sound so drastic when you say it People quit their jobs all the time. But since it is such a big issue for you: Officially you would be assigned to a special ops." Now Hotch was impressed. If this was true, Easter would need some very good connections, to pull it off.

"My director?"

"Would get the memo to not ask questions. Bonus for her: she can safe some money on the BAU budget." So Doyle knew about that as well.

"Why me?"

"It pains me to admit it, but you are good and I want the best."

"My team?"

"Like I said, small group. Less attention."

"They could help. They are very effective."

"Of course they are! And they will keep doing a fantastic job without you."

Hotch knew he wouldn't be able to tell them what he would be doing.

"Hey, and I'm not a bad guy. I give you two days to think it over and to find out if you can life without your precious team for some time and most of all if you could life without your son for a while if necessary. Doyle isn't staying in DC. So we need to go where he is."

Easter emptied his beer and stood up.

"Think about it. I'm going to contact you again. And since you all about your team I shall mention that one of your people is already on board." Hotchs head flew up, when he heard the news.

Easter just shrugged his shoulders.

"Nobody knows him better than she does."

With that he left.


	6. Chapter 6

**Off the Map- Chapter six **

Rating: M

A/N: Took some time, but here it is: chapter six! Have fun.

* * *

><p>When Easter and Meunier returned in the evening, Hotch and Emily were sitting in front of the computer going throw the pictures they took earlier that day. As soon as they had filled the other two in about their discovery the smell of victory filled the air. They had been right. All their frustrating efforts in the last days had finally paid off. Now that they knew for sure, that Doyle was in Italy, they had no doubt they would catch him. Hotch had taken several pictures of the license plate of the car Doyle had arrived in. It took Easter only a phone call to find out, that the car belonged to Massimo Montale, the windy younger brother of Luigi Montale. The younger Montale was a player. He was more interested in spending money than making it. He helped his brother with his special shipments, but also had his hands in sports betting.<p>

Easter opened Massimo Montales Interpol file on his laptop and read it to the others. He had been in prison when Emily had been with Doyle, so she hadn't met him. Seeing his mug shot on the screen, there was no doubt Massimo and Luigi were related. They shared the same narrow eyes. Massimo was single and had a mansion on the coast. They agreed that they would head there first thing in the morning. If they had any luck, Doyle would be staying with Massimo.

With the looming possibility, that they would finally catch Doyle Emily and the three man felt like celebrating. They welcomed Rosas call to dinner knowing a good wine would come with the food.

Over dinner they informed Rosa and Giovanni, that they had decided to spend some days on the cost and therefor would be leaving tomorrow. Both Italians made suggestions about what they should see and where they should eat. Their guests appreciated the gesture, even so sight seeing was the last thing on their minds. They had grown very found of the old couple in the last days, especially Emily, and maybe one day she would came back to visit the two again.

Emily and Hotch sat next to each other all evening long, but none of the others made a comment about, that they weren't fighting anymore.

The next day they packed there things, said there good-buys to Rosa and Giovanni and drove to Viareggio. They had decided to stay somewhere close to Massimo Montales estate, rather then drive every day. Hopefully they would need only a view more days to accomplish their mission. To not draw to much attention to them they would split up and stay at two different places. Hotch and Emily would stay at the Excelsior while Easter and Paul would get rooms at the Azzuro.

After they had dropped off their things at their hotels they met at a street outside the city. Easter and Meunier were already waiting, when Hotch and Emily arrived. Easter was leaning against the car and Paul was standing close by with his hands in his pockets. Hotch and Emily parked behind them and got out of their car.

"And here comes the happy couple." Easter greeted them cheerfully. It had been his idea that Hotchs and Emily should pretend to be a couple as a cover. First he had nobly offered to play Emilys other half, but when she had told him to go to hell, he had made a playful fuss about how she could choose Hotch over him.

"Fine take him! But Darling, you don't know what you are missing" he had told Emily "You want him? Come on, you need someone to light your fire, not some cold penguin! He never even smiles!" Emily replied dryly:

"I don't think I'm missing anything at all and you have no idea what I need. Maybe a penguin is what I need. Penguins are very poplar around the world. They are gregarious, share incubation duties, are perfectly adapted to there surroundings and they are really cute. "

"What ever"

Hotch starred at him dangerously and Easter grinned with delight, but was smart enough to not say anything more.

Paul got a map out of the car and laid it out on the hood. They gathered around it and everyone became very serious. They had talked about what they wanted do the day before, so this was just a check that they where all on the same page.

"This is where Massimos place is" Paul started and put his finger on the map.

"It's a two stories building with and a huge garage next to it. Behind the building is a large garden. Clyde and I will look for a place, from where we have a good view of the back of the estate." He draw a circle with his figure on the map.

"Hotch and I will head here and watch the front of the house." Emily said and also put a finger the the map. The four looked at each other. Everything was clear. Now it was time to get the information they needed and bring this operation to an end.

It wasn't easy for Hotch and Emily to find a spot from where they could watch the house. The entrance was on a street with heavy traffic and there was a precipice across from it. They had no choice, but to hide the car somewhere and then lay on the ground between some bushes. It was highly uncomfortable, but neither of them complained. They considered it a necessary evil.

In the end they had taken some pictures of cars and people that had come by, but there hadn't been any sign of Doyle. Paul and Easter had had more luck. They had sptted Doyle with Massimo and some other men on the patio. When the two reported it to Emily and Hotch over dinner, they were pretty sure Doyle was living with Massimo. They had went to a restaurant at the harbor. It was a touristy place. The menu was in Italian and English and had a pictures of every dish that was served. The food was awful and they only ate half of it, but at least anyone would think they were tourists on vacation.

After dinner Hotch and Emily walked back to their hotel in silence. They went through the alleys of the historic city center. When they came to a brightly illuminated plaza, they stopped to take a look around. There was a row of cafes on the right side and a impressive church on the left. The cafes had set out a bunch of little tables and it seemed that they were all occupied. A colorful mix of young and old, male and female had come together and happy chatter and laughter filled the air.

"I miss the team" Emily blurted out, "just hanging out with them. Laughing, joking, going out for a drink. I even miss watching movies with Reid."

Before Hotch could say anything a young woman in white shorts and a pink shirt come up to Emily. Her delicate face was framed by red curly hair.

"Excuse me, could you take a picture of me and my husband?" Emily looked shortly at Hotch, then the camera in the womans hand.

"Uhm, sure."

"Wonderful!"

The woman waved at a tall blond man and the two positioned themselves in front of the church.

"I've heard you speaking English and thought I ask. I don't speak Italian, you see". the woman explained cheerfully and handed Emily her digital camera.

"We are from Boston. Where are you from?"

"D.C." Hotch answered.

"Smile!" Emily called.

The man wrapped his arms around the woman and both smiled happily into the camera.

"Thank you, so much!"

"No problem." Emily said and gave the camera back.

"Hey, if you want to, I can take a picture of you and your husband, too?"

"Uhhm" Emily stammered, looking embarrassed to Hotch. To her surprise Hotch pulled her over to where the young couple stood and said:

"Sounds good."

"Sure" Emily spluttered and gave the woman her phone, as she didn't have a camera with her.

"Okay. Ready?"

Hotch and Emily stood next to each other and tried to make a joyous face, but it didn't look very convincing. The woman took a picture and then said:

"Let's do one more. This time remember you are in this amazing, wonderful, marvelous, romantic place and - most of all - you want to make everyone at home jealous!"

Her last words raised a little smile on Emilys lips.

When she turned to look at Hotch, he was smiling too. The warm and tender look he gave her made her heart jump in joy.

"That's it!" their photographer yelled and Hotch and Emily focused their attention back on her.

"Now you have something to show to your grandchildren one day!" She gave Emily her phone back.

"Thank you. Have a nice evening!"

"You, too!" The woman said and waved one last time and then walked off with her husband.

"Shall we go?" Hotch asked.

"Yes."

Emily held her phone in her hand all the way to the hotel. Only when they were back in their room and Hotch had gone to the bathroom did she dare to look at the picture. What she saw made her happy and sad at the same time. It was a picture of what could be, but also a picture of something she believed would never happen.

"Are you alright?" Hotch asked, when he found her sitting on the bed with her phone in her hand.

Emily nodded.

Hotch could tell that Emily was very tense and that something was on her mind. He wanted to know what it was, but knew he had to wait for her to speak. He continued to get ready for bed.

"Hotch, I need to ask you a favor, but you can't ask any questions"

Hotch stopped what he was doing and set next to Emily on the bed. He wouldn't like what she was going to say.

"What is it?"

"I want you to partner up with Paul tomorrow."

Tomorrow. When they would go for Doyle. Emily didn't want him on her side. Hotch let her request think in. He pressed his lips together so he wouldn't follow up on the impulse to ask why. He looked at Emily and searched for any signs for what was going on in her mind, but he could only tell that this was important to her and that she was very serious about it. To not allow him to ask any question, made it a heavy loaded requested. She was asking him to trust her, which would have been simple for him to answer a view month ago, but in the last weeks a lot had happened. Now he had to decide, if he still trusted her in the same way.

Hotch put his hand over Emilys.

"If Paul and Easter are okay with it, I'll do it"

"Thank you." Emily whispered. For a moment they just that there in silence, then Hotch got up and climbed under the covers on the other side of the bed. Emily went to the bathroom. An important day lay before them; it was time to get some sleep.

The next morning Emily and Hotch dressed in black jeans and black T-Shirts. To not look to suspicious, Hotch put a light Jacket on and Emily looped a red scarf around her neck. It was only 6:30 a.m. when they left the hotel. They met Easter and Meunier at the same spot as they had the day before, but this time the two had stayed in the car. When Hotch and Emily pulled up behind them Easter signaled them to follow them and drove of to some dirt road outside the city. Undergrowth made it impossible for anyone to see them there.

They gathered around the hood of Meuniers and Easters car once more. The atmosphere was very tense.

"Are we ready?" Easter asked and looked at everyone.

"We are" Hotch said "just one change. Emily is going with Paul."

"You ticked her of too!" Easter called in false shock. Hotch ignored him and turned to Paul instead.

"Is that alright with you?"

"Sure" Paul answered and looked thoughtfully from Emily to Hotch. He wondered what was going on with the two. From what he could tell there was no hard feelings between the two FBI agents, but that made there request to separate even more odd. But there was no time to find out what was going on. It was time to catch Doyle.

Easter and Hotch drove their car right to the front of the Massimos mansion. The plan was simple. They would go in, ask for Doyle and when they were told to fuck off, just wait for Doyle to come out. They had no doubt, that Doyle would relocate as soon as he learned his whereabouts were out. Paul and Emily would wait near by and have an eye on the scene. Since the estate was so close to the cliffs, there was only one way to leave, and that was out front over the driveway.

When Hotch had stopped the car, he and Easter looked at each other one last time. As simple as the plan was, it was also a risky one. They couldn't tell how Massimo and his men would react. It had been debated if they should stake out the mansion longer to get more information, but in the end they had decided to act now. Every day they waited, was one more day Doyle could vanish. And then they were only four people. On the one hand there was a chance that, if hey would be hanging around the area for days doing nothing they would raise suspicion. On the other hand they needed to find a way to get to Doyle. Massimo always had three or four guys hanging around and they all had impressive criminal records to prove they were no kindergarten boys.

Easter and Hotch approached the house and rang the door bell. When a housekeeper opened the door, Easter showed a badge and said:

"Interpol. We like to speak to Mr. Doyle."

The woman said nothing, just closed the door again. A view seconds later the door opened again and one of Massimos friends where standing in the door. He wore a black pants and a black shirt, that showed of his muscled chest.

He asked:

"What do you want?"

Easter repeated:

"Interpol. We like to see Mr. Doyle."

The guy squinted his eyes.

"Wait."

After a minute the man returned.

"Follow me." He held the door open to them.

"Now that was easy." Doyle wisped to Hotch. To easy both men thought.

They followed the men through the house, out in the garden.

Massimo where sitting on the patio under a parasol. He had black sun glasses on and were sipping on a drink. The chair next to his was empty, but the half full glass on the table told Hotch and Easter that somebody had sat there not long ago.

"Welcome to my home. I'm Massimo Mortale" Massimo greeted them.

"I hear you looking for someone."

"Yes. We like to see Mr Doyle." Easter repeated once more.

"I'm afraid, I can't help you."

"We know he is here." Hotch pointed out.

Massimo studied Hotch for a moment. Then he replied.

"Mr Doyle has been my guest, but he left. I'm sorry."

"In that case, we don't want to bother you any longer Mr Mortale" Easter said.

"No problem. Vito will show you the way out."

The muscled guy started to walk back to the house and Easter and Hotch followed him.

When they where in the entrance hall, they suddenly heard shots from the driveway. All three man grabbed there guns simultaneously. Vito pointed his gun at Easter, who was standing to his left, but before he could take a good aim, Hotch knocked him out.

Easter and Hotch run outside to see what was going on.

A red Ferrari was standing in the driveway and next to it lay the dead body of Ian Doyle.


	7. Chapter 7

**Off the map chapter seven**

Rating: MA

A/N: We are getting closer to the end of the story. Next chapter will probably be the last.

* * *

><p>While Easter and Hotch went inside the house, Paul and Emily parked their car on the other side of the street from where they had a good view of the driveway. They had their guns ready, in case that they needed to act quickly. Suddenly the garage door opened and a red Ferrari started to drive out. Paul, who had been sitting in the drivers seat, had been the first to notice that it had been Doyle behind the wheel. Without thinking he opened his door and run over to the other side of the street and positioned himself in front of the car, gun pointed at Doyle. For a second the two men starred at each other with the silent question between them, who would kill whom first. Could Easter run Meunier over or would Meunier shoot him first? Emily used that moment to sneak up to the car. When she was only six feet away she yelled:<p>

"Get out of the car!"

Irritated to see her Doyle seized her up, checking if it was really her. Then he slowly got out of the car and lifted his hands.

"You!" he screamed enraged.

His irritation, changed to anger, then to hatred.

"Where is my son?" he fizzed.

"You will never find him."

"Bitch!"

"Lay down, hands behind your head!"

"You will wish you were actually dead, because I will destroy you! But not just you. I will hunt down everyone you care about. Your family, your friends, your lovers, and then I will kill them slowly, painfully. I want to see you suffer, just as I did!" His eyes burned dangerously, almost maniacally.

"On the ground" Paul yelled sharply.

Doyle looked shortly in his direction, than focused back on Emily again.

"You slept with him to? Maybe I should start with him."

"Lay down!" Paul repeated.

"Does your mother now what a whore you are? I think I should tell her. Considering her position she should know, don't you think? I will tell her everything about your little assignment and how much you enjoyed faking your way into my bed. And then, then I will kill her. Can't wait to feel her blood on my hands."

"GET DOWN." Emily screamed stepping closer to Doyle. Her hands were trembling and she felt the strong impulse to just shoot Doyel, to end it once and for all, but she fought hard to hold her nerves together, because she knew she would regret it later. She wouldn't become a murderer. She wouldn't do Doyle that favor.

Doyle laughed at her, but got down on his knees. Emily made another step in his direction and that was when Doyle attacked her. Like an animal he jumped up and grabbed her legs. Emily felt on her back and Doyle grabbed her trout and choked her.

That was when Paul shout Doyle. Two shouts and Doyle was dead.

Emily pushed Doyle of her and got back on her feet. Her fingers went to her throat. It was all red and hurt. When she saw Easter and Hotch running out of the house, she dropped her hands. Easter and Hotch looked around and Paul shortly filled them in on what had happened. Hotch eyes went to Emilys throat, where the marks from Doyle hands were clearly visible. He bit his Lip with anger. It was a good thing Doyle was dead, because otherwise he would have killed him for what he did to Emily.

The four of them starred at the dead body, when Massimo and three other man appeared in the door. Emily, Hotch, Paul and Easter pointed there guns at them. It took Massimo only one look at Doyle to directed his men back inside. When the door closed behind them, Emily and the three men heard sirens coming closer.

"I think that was enough fun for you kids. Let me handle the rest." Easter announced calmly.

Hotch and Paul nodded. Emily starred at her shirt. Some of Doyles blood had sprayed on her. Hotch touched her shoulder and she nodded, too. Together the three Americans left.

They drove some miles to a quaint sea side village with a picturesque beach. Like many beaches in Italy it had changing cabins you for visitors. The two men an Emily ignored the sandy white shore or the crystal clear water and just went and used the cabins to change their cloth. The men changed into blue jeans an white shirts. Emily put on a gray t-shirt. So far everything went according to plan, which was a very simple one: change cloth, drive to Florence, fly home, never look back.

When they arrived in Florence, they still had some hours before their flights. No one was hungry, so they decided to just walked around the city for a while. Their adrenalin level was still high, but walking around calmed them down. With all the tourists from all over the world it was easy to blend in. No one paid any attention to them. They only difference between them and the other tourists was, that they weren't talking with each other. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. They just needed some time be reflect inwardly on what had happened.

Then it was time for Paul to head to the airport. Once more they had decided, that it was best to split up ans so he was booked on an earlier flight under a false name. No one would be able to make a connection.

Hotch had noticed that Doyles death had had quit an impact on Emily. When they stopped to take a look over the Arno river, Hotch felt that it was a good time to remind Emily she wasn't alone.

"You've been very quite" he started. When Emily didn't react, he continued:

"How are you holding up?"

"I..." Emily started, but couldn't find the right words to describe how she felt. Instead she turned to Hotch and looked at him. Reading the answer to his question in her dark troubled eyes, he wrapped his arms around her and pressed her to his chest.

"It's over" he wisped in her ear.

"He's not going to hurt you anymore".

Then it was time for Hotch and Emily to heat to the airport as well.

On the flight back home Emily had a window seat, while Hotch had the seat next to her. Hotch had bought a newspaper at the airport and started to read it soon after the plan had taken off. Emily was starring blankly out the window, so he knew she didn't want to talk. After a while he noticed that Emilys eyes were closed. He wasn't surprised that she had fallen a sleep. The last days had been exhausting and he was looking forward to get some rest before he would return to the BAU himself. He laid his newspaper in his lap and watched Emily sleep. It was a satisfying feeling to have her next to him now. A view weeks ago he had faced the possibility of never seeing her again and just today he had come that close of loosing her for real. If she returned to the BAU he knew he would have to send her into dangerous situations again, because that was part of the job, but Doyle had been different. Dealing with Doyle had been more than a dangerous situation. Doyle had been an uncontrollable thread to her life. Emily had been willing to sacrifice herself, but he wouldn't let her. There had been one way of protecting her and he went for it. Being able to bring her home now, was proof that it had been the right decision.

Hotch watched as Emily started to stir in her sleep. Suddenly her eyes flew wide open and a look of horror flew over her face. She breathed heavily and took a moment to realize where she was. When she noticed Hotchs eyes on her, she blushed and turned away.

"Nightmare?" Hotch asked gently.

"Just a bad dream" Emily played it down.

"If you want to talk about it..."

"Thanks, but it was really just a bad dream."

"Okay."

Emily picked up the book she had laid on the table in front of her and started to read. Hotch looked at her from time to time. He could tell that she was still tired, but apparently she had decided to not to sleep again.

When the plan had landed, Emily and Hotch joined the group of passengers on their way the baggage claim. It was late at night, so there wasn't as much activity as during the day. When they got their backs, they where finally ready to leave.

Hotch and Emily looked around. When Hotch had called JJ to let her know they where coming home, she had insisted she would come to meet them.

"Emily!" Emily turned around when she heard her friends voice. A big smile appeared on her lips when she saw JJ coming towards them. Even Hotch had to smile as he watched JJ throw her arms around Emily. The two woman laughed like two school girls who hadn't seen each other all summer long.

"Oh my gosh! It's so good to have you back!" JJ cried.

"I missed you so much! How are you? How's Henry" Emily wanted to know.

"I'm good. Henry is getting taler and taler every day. How are you? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay. Glad to be home."

The hugged each other again, before JJ remembered, that they weren't alone.

"Hotch! I'm sorry. Did you had a good flight?"

"Yes, everything was fine."

They three just stood there happy to be reunited. Then Emily asked:

"So what now?"

"Well, first you are coming with me. Since you don't have a place anymore, you can stay with me and Will till you find something new. Tomorrow we will start on bringing you back from the dead."

"Sounds good, but what about Will? What does he know...?"

"I told him that you were on a top secret undercover mission and therefor had to fake your death, but he knows I'm not telling him everything

"Mhhh..." Secretes in a relationship were never a good thing, especially when you partner knew that you were keeping them from him. Emily had experienced that herself. It didn't make it any easier, that it was part of the job.

"What about the team?"Emily asked.

"I haven't told them yet." JJ looked at Emily and then at Hotch.

"I figured, you might want to do be there for that."

"We work something out." Hotch nodded.

When no one said anything after that, Hotch picked up his bag.

"I can give you a lift." JJ offered.

"Thank you, but I will just take a cab."

Then he turned to Emily one last time.

"Call me if you need anything."

"I will."

"Alright. Good night then." Hotch said.

"Good night, Hotch." Emily said and JJ added:

"Have a safe trip home."

Hotch walked out of the airport to catch a cab and JJ and Emily made their way to JJs car.

Hotch took the next two days of. On the first day back, he went running in the park, filed up on groceries and then went to pick up Jack from school. The boy was thrilled to have his father back. Hotch took him out for ice cream and Jack talked non stop about what had happened and what he had done in the time Hotch had been gone. Afterwards the two went to Jessica to pick up Jacks stuff, but not before they made a stop at a flower shop. Hotch figured for what Jessica had done, he at least owned her some flowers.

On the second day Hotch used the time when Jack was in school to go though his mail and take care of some personal businesses. In the afternoon he and Jack went shopping. Jack needed some new clothes and some new shoes. The old ones were getting to small.

In the two days he was home, he didn't hear from Emily or JJ at all.

On the third day he went back to the BAU.

When he stepped out of the elevator, he felt glad to be back. This was were he belonged. He had called in to announce that he would be coming back today. He would have to go and see Strauss later, but first he wanted to check on his team.

First he run into Reid and JJ. JJ were standing next to Reids desk and Reid was lazily sitting on his chair. When he spotted Hotch, Reid jumped up and greeted his boss.

"Hotch! You are back!"

JJ made short eye contact with Hotch. They silently made a deal to talk later, when they were alone. For now JJ just smiled and went off to get Morgan and Garcia. Rossi had already stepped out of his office, when he had heard Reid.

What followed was a happy hello and lots of curious questions. Garcia pointed out that he had gotten a nice tan, which left Hotch smiling embarrassedly. Somehow they ended up in the conference room and everyone had this or that story to share. When his phone rang Hotch stepped outside to take the call.

"Hotchner."

"Hi, it's me Emily. JJ said you would be back to work today."

"Yes, I just got in."

"I had a talk about my future with the FBI yesterday. About me returning to the job. It went well, I guess... but nothing is decided yet.

"Okay."

"What I wanted to know is, if you have time to talk. In person. Out of the office. About, well..."

"...you coming back to the BAU." Hotch finished her sentence.

"Yes."

"How about you come to my place around 8 p.m? Jack should be in bed by then."

"Great. I see you tonight then. Bye"

"Bye"

Hotch put his cell phone back in his pocket. Emily was right. They needed to talk. First and most of all they needed to decide, how they wanted to inform the rest of the team about her being alive. He knew that Emily badly wished that things would go back to as they had been before, but it wasn't that simple. It would need time. He made an inner note to ask JJ about her opinion on the situation before he would leave.

Hotch hadn't payed any attention to what was going on behind him. If he had turned around while he was on the phone with Emily, he would have noticed that Rossi had been standing in the doorway. When Hotch returned to the conference room, the older profiler was standing in a corner with a strange look on his face.


	8. Chapter 8

Name: **Off the map- Chapter 8**

Rating: M

A/N: Finally, a new chapter. Not the last, but we are getting there.

* * *

><p>Hotch had just finished cleaning the kitchen when he heard the knock on the door. Emily was dressed in Jeans and a black shirt and her her hair was pulled into a pony tail. When Hotch opened the door a nervous smile appeared on her lips and her hands anxiously clasped her purse.<p>

"Come on in." Hotch greeted her and stepped aside to make room for her.

"Thank you."

Hotch motioned for her to sit down on the couch.

"Do you want anything to drink? Beer? Wine? Water?"

"A Beer, would be great."

Hotch vanished into the kitchen and returned 20 seconded later with two bottles of beer. He handed one to Emily and kept on for himself.

Emily sat down on the couch and looked around. She had been to Hotchs apartment a view times. She wondered if anything had changed since her last visit, but then concluded that just because her life was upside down, doesn't meant anyone else's was.

Hotch sat down next to her, but made sure to leave enough room between them. He didn't want Emily to feel pressured in any way.

"How's Jack?" Emily started. Safe subject.

"Good. He's in bed now. He had a play date with a friend today."

The room went quite after that.

"Emily," Hotch asked very gently, "how are you."

Emily took her time to answer. She knew Hotch wouldn't buy anything, but the truth.

"Doyle is dead, I'm back in D.C., that's the good part. The bad part is my friends all think I'm dead, and now I have to tell them I lied to them. And then there are so many decisions to make, explaining to do. So all in all I haven't really had the time to figure out how I am, which I think is a good thing."

Hotch waited for her to say more.

"I'm happy to be alive, glad Doyle is dead, tired from hiding, scared about what will happen now, freaked out about how the team will react and frightened they wouldn't forgive me "

"Okay." Hotch simply said. He appreciated Emilys honesty, knowing very well it wasn't easy for her to open up to him.

"I found a new apartment. JJ had all my stuff stored away. I can move in next week."

"Tell me, if you need any help."

"I will."

Emily went quite again. Then she said:

"They told me I can go back to the BAU, if I want."

"Do you?"

"You guys are my family."

"Like I said before, I will always consider you part of the team."

Emily nodded her head. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, when she continued.

"But things happened."

Hotch took a deep breath. He knew what she mend. Till now he had just blocked the subject out, but now the images of their love making flashed before his eyes again. He remembered what her body had felt like in his arms, how her mouth had tasted, how her hair had smelled and how perfectly their bodies had fit together.

"It doesn't change anything for me. If you want to come back, I'm looking forward to working with you again." Hotch said.

Hotch could tell, that there was something else on her mind. Emily lifted her head and looked him in the eyes.

"Do you regret it?" she asked with a slight hint of worry in her voice.

Hotch didn't need time to think about what to say. There was only one answer for him.

"No."

"Me neither."

She paused than said:

"But if I come back, I don't want anyone to know. You are the unit chief and I..."

"Of course."

"I just don't want anyone to say things that are not true."

"It's okay."

Hotch rested his dark eyes on her. They had crossed a line and now they needed to find a way to deal with the consequences. If anyone inside the FBI would find out about their involvement, it might jeopardize their careers. Technical they hadn't broken any rules, but the appearance of improper behavior alone could raise questions.

Emily turned away and started to knead her hands. Her eyes were fixed on her hands when she spoke again.

"What happened in Italy between you and I felt right to me back then and it still does. I can't tell you how much I appreciate every thing you did for me and how much it means to me, but now I have to fight to get the trust and friendship back with the others and that's not going to be easy Things are going to be different and after everything you did for me, it feels very ungrateful to ask you this, but would it be okay with you if we concentrate on work. At least for a while."

Ignore how close they had gotten and be just co-workers again, Hotch translated her words in his mind.

"If that's what you want."

Once more they looked into each others eyes. The longer they stayed that way the faster their hearts started to beat. One more second and Hotch would have reached out for her hand, but before he could do so, he heard a knock on the front door. Emily was instantly alarmed and the moment was gone.

Hotch considered not opening the door, but a demanding second knock told him who ever it was wouldn't just go away.

He got up and walked over to the door.

When he opened it, he found Rossi on the other side.

"Hi, I'm hope I'm not catching you at a bad time? I was wondering if you might be up for a glass of Bourbon?" Rossi greeted his friend lifting a full bottle in his left hand.

"Actually, I'm having a visitor."

"A lady friend?" Rossi tried to look over Hotchs shoulder.

"Do I know her?"

When Hotch didn't answer, Rossi said:

"Okay, I should have called first." But still stayed where he was.

Then Hotch felt a hand on his shoulder moving him away from the door. Hotch looked over his shoulder. When he saw Emily giving him a nod, he looked at Rossi again and stepped away, allowing the other man access to his apartment.

Rossi didn't think twice and walked right in. He was eager to find out what was going on.

He stopped the second he spotted Emily standing in the middle of the room .

"Well...hello. I haven't seen you in a while" he said before a big smile appeared in his face. Emily took this as an invitation to wrap her arms around the older man.

"Dave."

When they let go of each other again, Rossi turned to Hotch, who had watched the scene in the back..

"I could really use one of those now" he said and handed Hotch the bottle.

"Of course." Hotch walked away to fetch some glasses

Rossi and Emily sat down on the couch.

"I never thought I would hug a dead friend after I burred her, but there is a first for every thing, right?"

"I'm really sorry, but there was no other option."

"Where have you been?"

"Here and there."

"I see."

Hotch returned with the Bourbon and sat down on a chair.

"You knew" Rossi stated.

"Yes. It was my call to declare Emily dead. Doyle was a uncontrollable thread to her and the team."

"Was?" Rossi didn't miss a beat.

"He is dead." Emily offered.

"Your little time of the map?" he asked Hotch, who in return just took a sip from his glass.

"Who else knows?"

"Just you...and JJ."

"JJ!" That new information really surprised him.

"Yes, well, and Will. I'm currently staying with him and JJ, so he knows, too."

"What are you going to do now? Are you coming back?"

"We were just working that out." Hotch explained.

"Well, since I'm hear now, I'm willing to help however I can."

The rest of the evening where spend on discussing Emilys return to the the BAU and how to tell the rest of the team. When Emily left she felt much more confident about her return, than before. Only in the very back of her mind was a little voice left, questioning if she and Hotch would be able to have a normal work relationship.

They had decided to not delay Emilys return for long. Emily needed two more days to get her things in order, but than the big day came. Hotch had offered to pick her up and together they walked into the BAU office.

They had come in very early, so none of they others were there yet. Emily stopped next to the desk that had been hers. She remembered how she had put her phone and badge in there, thinking it would be the last time she would be in this room. Back then, she had been ready to die to protect the people closest to her heart. Instead, she had ended up betraying their trust.

"Come on." Hotch guided her to his office and closed the blinds.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked gently, after she had set down on a visitor chair.

"Yes. I am. How about you?"

He gave her a thoughtful look.

"I'm standing behind my decision and I'm accepting any hard feelings they might have."

Emily nodded. She wouldn't expect anything less from him, but once more she felt bad to have put him in this position in the first place.

"Coffee?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, that would be great."

Hotch left, giving Emily some time to compose herself.

One hour later Reid, Morgan, Garcia, Rossi and JJ had all arrived. JJ and Rossi knew, that Emily would return today, but they other three were standing at the side of the room, wondering why the blinds in Hotchs office were closed. In the past that had been a clue that some bad news where coming to hit them.

"Okay, maybe somebody has died?" Garcia wondered. Touching first Morgan, than Reid, she said "Let see: you are alive,and you are alive, I'm alive. Rossi is alive, JJ is alive. O Gosh maybe it's Hotch? What if somebody else closed his blinds, because he is dead?"

"Relax, baby girl. I saw his car in the parking garage. He is not dead." Morgan calmed her.

"Are you sure? Thank goodness. After Emily, I'm not sure I could deal with loosing anyone else."

"Yeah, but something is going one." Reid said.

"Maybe it has to do with what ever Hotch did when he was away." Morgan offered.

"You think they will lure him a way from the BAU permanently?"Garcia pondered again.

"I'm not sure that's possible. The man breathes and lives BAU. But what ever it is, I have a feeling we soon find out." Morgan said when he saw Rossi coming out of his office and JJ waving them over to the conference room.

They all sat around the round table, waiting for Hotch. When he finally stepped in, he had a very serious look on his face.

"O no, I knew it! Somebody died!" Garcia exclaimed.

"Nobody died." Hotch said. "That is why I'm here. To tell you, that somebody did NOT die."

"What do you mean?" Reid asked confused.

"When Ian Doyle came to Washington, to hunt down Prentiss, we knew that he was a Sociopath, ready to kill anyone in his way. He wanted to see her suffer and wouldn't rest till she was dead."

"Well, he succeed." Morgan said bitterly.

"No, he didn't." Hotch waited a second to let his words sink in.

"Prentiss was taken to the hospital. She had lost a lot of blood, but she survived surgery. Back then, I decided the only way to protect her from Ian Doyle was to announce her dead."

Shocked faces starred at Hotch, when he stepped outside the door and pulled Emily, who had been waiting outside, into the room.

"You are alive. You are not dead!" Garcia cried and wrapped her arms around Emily.

"The hell!" Morgan yelled, looking disbelievingly from Hotch to Prentiss.

"I'm sorry, I had to do this to you, but you were all in danger. Doyle would have killed you"

Emily apologized.

"But why? Why didn't you tell us?" Morgan yelled angrily at Hotch.

"It wasn't an option."

Morgan starred at Hotch with fury, but didn't say anything else. The atmosphere was very tense. Then it was time for Reid to speak. So far he had just watched and listened. Now he said:

"I'm not good with jokes, but this one is definitely not funny."

Then he got up from his chair and left the room.

Emily felt tears form in her eyes. Reid had always been like a younger brother to her. It hurt to have him walk out on her like that. Garcia laid an arm around her shoulders.

"Give him some time. For now, let's take a look at you."

She positioned herself in front of Emily and checked her critically. Emily was wearing a black suit and a white blouse. Her hair was falling on her shoulders.

"Still lovely, I say." Garcia announced.

"I agree." Morgan said, walking up behind Garcia.

"Morgan, I wish we could have told you and you wouldn't have to go trough this" Emily apologized once more.

"Me too." Morgan said with a sad voice, but than gave her a hug. It was short, but it was a start.

She found Reid at his desk, starring blankly in front of him.

"Reid?"

"I missed you so much. There were times where I could hardly breath because the pain was so bad. And now I'm supposed, to forget all that and pretend nothing had happened? I can't do that."

"Nobody expects you to do that. Just give me a chance to show you that this is me and I am still worse being your friend."

"Friends don't lie to each other." Emily had no idea what to say to that. So she just walked over to her old and new desk and and sat down. She guessed that he needed time.

* * *

><p>A month later she was sitting at her desk once more. They had gotten home from a case in Cleveland in the afternoon, and everyone else had already left. Emily was left by her self to ponder about her current situation. Rossi and Garcia had welcomed her back with open arms, but like with everyone else there was a slight bit of resentment left. Emily knew it was because, there still were some questions left unanswered. They wanted to know, what she did, when she was presumed dead, what happened to Doyle, how Hotch was involved, but she wasn't allowed to tell them. Those information were need to know only. It bothered her, that she couldn't talk about it with her friends, but that was the price she had to pay.<p>

Morgan had been very distant at the beginning and had critically watched every thing she did, but then he apparently had made up his mind. She had known things would be okay between them, the day he had brought her her favorite coffee. It had been a peace offer and she had happily accepted it. Every since that time, they had taken little baby steps to become friends again.

Things between Morgan and Hotch were still tense. Morgan made no effort to conceal, that he felt betrayed by Hotch and did not trust him anymore. He followed Hotchs orders, but besides than he stayed out of Hotchs way were ever he could.

Hotch had shown no regret. He surly wasn't happy about Morgans behavior, but he let him have his way. To Emily he acted just like she had wished. He always called her Prentiss. Not once had he used her first name. He partnered her up with JJ or Rossi most of the time. Only once had they worked together in the field. He hadn't talked to her about anything, but work. Emily had mixed feelings about her and Hotchs relationship. On the one hand, it was what she had wanted, but on the other hand, it just felt wrong. She missed him smiling at her. Or seeing him smile at all. With all the tension between him, Morgan and Reid, and the distant between her and him, there wasn't much cause for him to smile. Or for her. She couldn't help it, but blame herself for the rift between the team members.

And then there was Reid. Reid had pretty much ignored her. When they had been in Cleveland Emily had finally had enough of his behavior and had confronted him. She had used some strong words, but now everything was out in the open between them and wounds could start heeling.

Two month later the team got a chance to hang out together outside of work. It was Henrys birthday and JJ had invited everyone including Kevin and Jack to the park for a pick nick. It was a bright and sunny day. Everyone, besides Garcia was wearing Jeans and T-Shirts. The computer genius was dressed in a playful ensemble of yellow and blue.

While Will, Rossi and Hotch played soccer with Jack, Morgan and Reid talked about differences and similarities between Chinese food and Indian food, and Garcia took care of Henry, JJ and Emily prepared some food and drinks on a table. When they where done, JJ and Emily sat down and treated them self with a refreshing soda.

""You do now, that I'm jealous of you, right?" Emily joked.

"And why is that?"

"You got a wonderful men, the most adorable son and everyone just loves you. You have the life every girl dreams of."

"Yeah, well, it's not bad." JJ giggled.

Then they watched the soccer game. Jack was running around with a red face smiling ear to ear. He obviously loved to get so much attention.

JJ noticed the longing look on her friends face and thought about, how Emily had once mentioned that she wanted kids herself.

"There is something that might make my life even more perfect" she said quietly

"Really? Is that even possible?"

"A little sister or brother for Henry."

"Oh my gosh! Are you pregnant!"

"No,no. I'm not pregnant! Will and I have just been talking about it."

Emily put her arm around her friends shoulder and gave her a squeeze and said.

"Sounds like a wonderful idea to me."

"Really? Well, we'll see. What about you?"

"Me?"

"You would make a great mom. So is there anyone special in the picture?"

"Nope."

"Don't worry, you will find someone. Someone to make you happy, someone worse staring a family with."

"If you say so."

JJ put her hand over Emilys

"I mean it."

Emily gave her a smile.

"Talking of men, Will has this friend, Dale, he is very nice, good looking and he is single".

"Oh no! Don't set me up!"

"You need to go out to find Mr. Right and Dale is really sweet with Henry. He would make a great dad"

"JJ, I mean it. No setting up. I'm just not in the mood for dating right now."

"In the mood? What's that's supposed to mean?"

"There are things I need to figure out first." Emily looked over to Hotch once more. He was tying Jacks shoe and looked very content. It was a perfect father son moment.

"Things?"

"Feelings. Complicated feelings."

"For a man?"

Emily didn't answer. Fearing she would give away to much, she teared her eyes away from Hotch.

"But whom? Has this to do with Doyle" JJ whispered.

"JJ, pleas."

"Fine. But promise me you let me know if there is anything I can do to help or if you change your mind about Dale. Don't tell Will I said this, but Dale is a real cutie."

"Your secret is safe with me."

When Emily looked over to Hotch again, he choose that exact moment to look her way. Their eyes met and Emily felt all the the emotions she had carefully stacked a way gush out again. JJ had a point, she thought. If she wanted to find someone to share her life with she needed to deal with her feelings for Hotch first.


	9. Chapter 9

Name: **Off the map – chapter nine**

Rating: T

A/N: Sorry, for the wait. Took me longer than I thought to write the last two chapters.

* * *

><p>The subject of Emilys love life didn't came up again for a while. JJ kept her promise and didn't pressure Emily about it. But then JJ found out , that Emily had a date.<p>

One evening JJ had just said her good-nights to everyone and was ready to head home to her family, when she bumped into Paul Meunier.

"Paul! Good to see you!" she cried out.

"JJ! How are yo?"

"Good. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here to pick up Emily for dinner."

"Oh, alright. I think she just went to the ladies room. Let me get her for you."

Without waiting for an answer JJ went off to find Emily.

She found her in the ladies room, washing her hands.

"Hey, there." JJ started standing next to her friend.

"I thought, you already left."

"I had. Well, almost. I run into Paul out there. He's waiting for you." JJ said causally.

"Okay, thanks."

Giving up on trying to hide her curiosity JJ asked:

"Is he the guy?"

"What guy"

"The one you have complicated feelings for."

Emily just rolled her eyes, but didn't answer. Instead she headed out the door.

JJ followed her out and watched how Paul greeted Emily with a kiss on the cheek and how Emily smiled at him.

When JJ saw Hotch walking in her direction she approached him.

"I thought you had gone home" Hotch said, when he saw her.

"Did you now about Paul and Emily?" JJ motioned with her head in the direction where Paul and Emily were standing laughing. If JJ would not have been so busy watching Emily, she would have noticed the change in Hotchs expression, when he noticed Paul and Emily. His face froze and it was like the temperature around him dropped some degrees.

"They are going out for dinner. Was there anything going on between them, you know, when you guys were overseas?"

"No."

"Interesting. I didn't thought, that Paul was Emilys type, but apparently you never know."

Emily and Paul were ready to leave now. When Emily turned around she noticed JJ and Hotch watching them. She quickly turned back and closed her eyes for a moment.

Hotch and JJ. She had a pretty good idea what the two where thinking right now.

But how could she explain to them, that Paul had become a good friend to her?

She had run into him one day at a coffee shop. They had talked and it had turned out he was a perfect listener. He understood, how hard it was for her to be back working with the people who were her best friends, but with whom she did not share the connection they once had anymore. Rebuilding this connection was the most important thing for Emily, but it was also wearying her down because it meant little steps back and forth. Talking to Paul and having some one to share her feelings with had been a great relief for her.

It was Paul who brought up the subject of her and Hotch. He confessed, that he had noticed that there had been something going on between them in Italy and wanted to know how things had turned out between them. So Emily had told him and Paul had listened.

Two days later the team had a new case. Three men had been found dead so far. They had all been well educated, healthy men between 30 and 40. The team left right away and started to discuss the case on the flight to Seattle. When they were done, the group drifted apart and everyone found something to do. Reid and JJ had brought books to read, Hotch occupied himself with a bunch of case files, Morgan put his ear phones on and Emily and Rossi played some cards. After a while, JJ fell asleep over her book. Emily thought it was a good idea to try to catch some sleep as well and found a seat in the back where she could stretch out.

After a while Emilys become fluttery in her sleep. Since she was way in the back of the plane, nobody seemed to notice. No one, but Hotch. He had noticed her settling down in the back and had unconsciously kept in eye on her. When he saw her stir in her sleep he felt a stitch in his chest. He had seen this before. It was the same as on the flight back from Italy. It hurt him to see, that she was still having nightmares and probably had had them ever since they came back, but she hadn't talked to him about it. He thought about how Emily and Paul had been standing in the hallway laughing. Bitterly he realized: Emily had someone else to talk to now.

Looking down on the case file in his hands he knew there were other things that needed his full attention. So he tore his thoughts away from Emily and back to the case that were waiting for them in Seattle. They had three bodies and still needed to find the connection between them.

The bodies had been found in garbage containers. It was clear that they dealt with a male UnsSub, because it was very unlikely that a woman could have lifted the bodies that high. But after that it was a puzzle. One men had been blond haired manager, one had been an a black haired accountant and the third was a brown haired lawyer. First it had looked as if there was no connection at all between them, but after two days of investigation it turned out that all three of them had frequently used the Link Light Rail. With that information they had sat down and watched hours and hours of videos from the surveillance cameras in the trains and at the train stations. In the end they found their guy.

The UnSub was a men, who worked at a shop at the airport. Everyday he watched people go on vacation, travel to foreign countries, and return from successful business meetings, unable to find the motivation in himself to do something successful himself. He started to blame his victims. They had taken something from him. They were responsible for him being a looser. So they had killed them. He had followed them at night and then strangled them with her ties and dumped their bodies.

Hotch had worked as hard as usual, but it become clear to everyone around him that something was off. He had hardly spoken to Emily and when he did it had been mostly to criticize her.

When they packed their stuff to fly back home, Rossi took Emily to the side.

"You know, Hotch probably is just very stressed out at the moment."

"Sure."

"You two, didn't fight or anything, right?"

"No, we didn't"

"Well, he knows you are a good agent. He brought you back from the dead after all. Just give him some time. Things will be back to normal in no time."

"We'll see."

Emily was skeptical. She and Hotch hadn't been close in the last month, but that had been by choice. So far she had been sure about that they still cared for each other, that if she would decide to fall right then, he would be their to catch her in any possible way. But she had seen the cold look in his eyes, when they had argued in the last days and had realized that something had caused Hotch to turn away from her.

She had been shocked and confused when she noticed the change in his behavior, but had no idea what it meant for them.

If Rossi had thought things would soon go back to normal, he had to accept that he had been wrong. For the next two month Hotch continued to be hard on Emily and letting her feel his disapproval. One morning the team stood together in the office and watched as Emily and Hotch were having another argument in Hotchs office.

"I don't get it. Why doesn't she call him out on it?" Morgan wondered.

"I'm sure she has her reasons." Rossi mused.

"I tried to talk to her about it, but she blocked and claimed everything was fine." JJ said.

"Yeah, right. We can see that." Morgan snorted.

"Maybe it's something personal. Maybe it has to do with her coming back. Or with what she did, when she was away. We don't know what she did, when she was dead." Reid offered.

JJ and Rossi exchanged a quick glaze.

"I don't know..." JJ started.

"Reid might be right. I would explain it. Emily did something Hotch doesn't approve of. He finds out and gives her the cold shoulder." Morgan jumped in.

"It's just a theory." Rossi reminded his colleague.

"Maybe. But she is definitely suffering and if she's not going to talk to him soon, I will!"

No one said anything to that.

The next day the team left for a a new case in Buffalo, New York. Four dead woman had been found naked in the woods and first impression of the police had been, that they had been raped and then killed. But there had been no signs of rape and cause of death hadn't been strangulation or a stab wound. Instead the autopsy had shown that they froze to death and that they must have died in a cooling chamber or a freezer.

Asa soon as they had arrived in Buffalo Hotch had told JJ and Morgan to talk the families and friends of the victims, so that they would have a better feeling for who the woman had been, were they spend their time and what people they usually interacted with. He and Rossi had asked one of the local detectives to show them the places where the bodies had been found and to give them some information about the area.

Reid and Emily stayed at the police station to start working on the geographical profile. Emily wasn't happy about it. She knew Reid could do this alone and that she could do something more useful. So she started to go though all the autopsy reports and concentrated on the cause of death. If she could find a hint to where the woman had died it could help narrow down potential suspect lists. Freezers big enough to fit a whole body in could be find in many places this days. Supermarkets, laboratories, hospitals, were onlny a view possibilities.

In the afternoon the team met at the police station to discuss their findings. All woman had lift in Downtown Buffalo. They had all been single, good looking and known to be friendly and well liked. All had vanished at night. So far their was no clue as to where the UnSub had found them. They weren't kidnapped at home or work as far as the team could tell. One woman, Brenda Miles, was last been seen when she left her job as a waitress around 11 p.m., another, Tina Morrison, was last seen by a neighbor when she came home at 7 p.m. Shelly Newland, had been a college student, that had been visiting her parents. She had been eating dinner with her parents, had watched some TV and then went to bed. No one knew what happened after that. The last victim, Lucy Korbach, was last been seen by her team mates when she left after basketball practice at 7 p.m..

The team decided to take a closer look at the places where the woman had last been seen. Hotch and Morgan would go and check the route Brenda Miles would have taken after work. Rossi and JJ would check the way Lucy Korbach would have taken from the gym to her apartment. Emily and Reid would stay at the police station again.

30 minutes later Emily called Hotch on his cell phone. She had found a lead, that she wanted to follow up.

"Hey, I found something. All four woman had been sick or injured before they died. Brenda Miles hat complained about headaches, Tina Morrison had left working early, because she wasn't feeling well, Shelly Newland had shown signs of a cold and Lucy Korbach had bruised her hand during practice. What do you do when you have a headache? You take Advil or Aspirin. I called Shelly Newlands mother and she told me there wasn't any cough drops or any other cold medicine in the house. She hat cleaned out the medicine cabinet a few days early and had planed to buy new supplies in the next days. What if all four women went to a pharmacy before they died? What if that's the link? I looked it up. There is only one 24h pharmacy in the area. "

"It's something we can look at. We talk about it when we get back."

"I want to go their now. I think is the best lead we have at them moment."

"We talk about it, when we are back." Hotch repeated unmoved and hang up.

One hour later Hotch and Rossi were back at the station. No new information had turned up.

"Were's Prentiss" Hotch asked Reid, who was reading a file.

"You told her, she could check out that pharmacy?" Reid offered.

Without saying anything Hotch turned around and dialed Emilys number on his phone.

"She's not answering." Now he had Reids and Rossis full attention.

"I told her to wait for us, before doing something." Hotch explained.

"Did she take anyone with her?"

"I don't think so," Reid said. Hotch had a bad feeling about this.

"Give me the address where Emily went. Dave and I will check on her. You call Morgan and tell him to meat us there."

10 minutes later Hotch drove up to the place Emily had found out. It was an old building in a busy street. The pharmacy was squeezed in between 24 hour shops and Korean delis. Emilys car was parked outside. Without stopping Hotch marched right in. When Emily was nowhere to be seen he drew his weapon. A guy appeared from a back room, but when he saw Hotch with a gun he flew. Rossi and Hotch went after him and got him in the alley behind the pharmacy.

"Where is Agent Prentiss" Hotch shouted when he the men way lying on the ground before him.

The skinny man starred at him with fear, but didn't say anything. Hotch felt, that he was close to beating the information out of the man and took a step back.

"Take care of him" he told Rossi and went back inside.

He found the back room the man had come from. Inside were two big freezers. When he opened the door of the first, the unconscious body of Emily Prentiss fell out. Hotch caught her and laid her on the floor. Her skin was pale and her body was very cold, but she had a pulse. Hotch called an ambulance and then wrapped his jacket around her. He lifted her in his arms and carried her outside. Morgan and JJ arrived at the same time the ambulance did. Hotch was so focused on making sure Emily would be taken care of, that he didn't notice the look of horror in Morgans face. He didn't complain when Morgan stated that he would be going with Emily in the ambulance.

Rossi and Hotch made sure that the man they chased was taken in police custody, before the went to the hospital. His name was Kurt Binder. In interrogation he confessed all four murders.

When they arrived at the hospital, Hotch and Rossi first talked to a doctor and then went to their colleagues, who were sitting in a wanting room. The moment Hotch entered the room, Morgan was at him. He jumped up from his seat and positioned himself in front of the unit chief.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why didn't you listen to Emily? It's your fault she is hear now!"

Hotch didn't move or say anything.

"You haven been at her for the last weeks. Nothing she did was good enough for you. I tell you this: Emily is an excellent agent and you have been an ass to her for no reason. I swear to good if she doesn't make it..."

The two man were facing off each other in the middle of the room. The rest of the team were holding their breath, each of them fearing, what would happen next. Before either Morgan or Hotch could say anything, Rossi spoke up.

"The doctor said, that Emily is stable and needs to rest. Why don't we all head back to the motel and get some sleep. I think we all need to relax a bit." The rest of the team were happy to have an excuse to leave and gathered their things.

"You go. I'll stay." Hotch said, his voice making it clear that he would not accept any discussion. Reluctantly Morgan followed his order. When they had left, Hotch went looking for Emilys room. When he found her, he was shocked to see how white her skin still looked. With several tubes plugged into her arm it, it was clear that this wasn't just a case of the flue. She had been in real danger.

Hotch sad down on a chair next to Emilys bed and starred at her.

How could this happen? It might have been her decision to go of on her own, but it was only because he had been so stubborn to listen to her. Hotch rubbed his eyes. His personal feelings had almost cost an agent her life. Not just any agent. Emily.

The thought that he could have almost lost her killed him. How could he ever made that up to her?

When Rossi entered the room an hour later, Hotch was still watching Emilys sleeping body. Hotch acknowledged his friend entering, but didn't question why Rossi came back.

"Anything new?" Rossi asked sitting down on a chair on the other side of the bed.

Hotch shook his head.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" When Hotch didn't move Rossi continued quietly.

"You two, what happened? Did Emily do anything wrong? Did you two fight over something?"

Once more Hotch shook his head. For the last hour he had been wondering the same thing. Sitting here in the half-dark hospital room, he knew it was time for him to confide in someone.

"Emily and I slept together."

Rossi gasped. He had expected a lot of reasons for Hotchs behavior, but he hadn't seen that one coming.

"It was when Emily was away. It ...just happened. When we came back, we agreed not to mention it again and keep things professional."

"But something changed." Rossi concluded.

"When I saw her having a nightmare on the plane, I knew she was still dealing with what happened to her. She is not opening up to me about it and I have promised to stay away. I just don't know what to do."

"I see. That's why you punishing her. Because it's hurting you that she is not talking to you, so you're hurting her."

Hotch thought about Rossis words. Maybe he was right.

"I'm definitely no relationship expert, but I can tell you this: you need to talk to her and tell her how you feel," Rossi continued. "You two thought you can just go on and pretend nothing happened, but it isn't that simple. Feelings doesn't stop to exist, just because you don't like them. Trust me, I've been there. You two have always been close, maybe you just never realized how close."

Rossi got up from his chair.

"I'm sure you'll work it out somehow, but you need to talk about it."

Hotch nodded.

"Thanks. Good night, Dave."

"Good night."

When Rossi was gone, Hotch put his hand over Emilys and whispered to himself:

"I'm sorry."

As uncomfortable as the chairs at the hospital were, Hotch still managed to doze of a bit. He woke up when he felt Emily stir. His heart skipped with relief when she opened her eyes and looked at him. Quickly he leaned in to her.

"Hey! How are you feeling." He said.

"Tired. Where am I?"

"Hospital. UnSub got you."

Hotch could practically see, how Emily remembered what happened.

"Oh." Emily recalled, that he had told her not to go after the UnSub and looked away.

"Don't worry. I'm just clad you okay." His voice was very gentle and it was only then that Emily noticed that his hand was still covering hers. Not quit sure what to make of this she turned her head back to look at him.

He didn't turn away. His dark eyes rested warmly on her.

"We need to talk" he simply said, "but I want you to get some more rest first. Do you need anything? Water?"

Emily shook her head.

"Are you going to stay?"she asked.

"Do you want me to?"

Emily took a second to think about it and then said "Yes".

"Then I will." When Emily smiled back at him, Hotch felt good for the first time since they had landed in Buffalo.

In the morning the nurse came to check on Emily. Hotch used the time to get some coffee. When he got back to Emilys room the rest of the team had come back. He could see JJ, Morgan, Reid and Rossi standing around her bed talking and laughing and decided to not go inside. He felt that he could give them a moment alone with Emily. Instead of joining them he walked down the hall and sat down in corner with visitor chairs. He could feel a headache coming. Maybe he should take a day or two off? He was so lost in his thoughts, so he didn't notice JJ until she was standing beside him.

"You look tired. I guess you didn't get much sleep."

"No." He confessed.

"Emily asked me where you are, so I went looking for you. You were here the whole night, weren't you?""

"Yes."

"Are you coming back with me?" JJ looked at him expectingly. Hotch nodded his head and went up. Together they walked back to Emilys room. Before they entered JJ said

"I know, the last months have been tough for you. First keeping the secret and then dealing with the hurt feelings from the others. I just want you to know, that If there's anything I can do , just let me know. "

"Thanks, JJ."

Hotch walked up to Emily.

"Hey, how are you feeling?."

"Better. The Doctor said I can leave."

"If you promise to take it easy for a few days!" Reid chirped in.

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Yes, if promise to get some rest."

"Okay. Then let's get home." Hotch ordered.

A view hours later they were back in Quantico. Hotch had sent everyone home. He had asked Morgan to take Emily home and make sure she would rest and then had went to his office to write the report on their latest case.

When he was done, he picked up the phone and dialed Emilys number.

"Hi, I just wanted to call and see how you are."

"I'm feeling better. Thanks for asking." Emily replied.

After an awkward pause Hotch asked:

"Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. Garcia is coming by later and she promised to bring lots and lots of comfort food. The last time she said that, she brought a dozen donuts and a giant pizza."

"Oh."

"At least I don't need to go grocery shopping on the weekend. I can just eat leftovers."

After another awkward pause, Hotch said.

"Do you mind if I come by tomorrow?" The next day would be a Saturday, so Hotch wouldn't have to go into the office.

"No, not at all."

"Okay. Around 10 a.m.?"

"Perfect."

"See you tomorrow then."

"Bye."

Emily hung up, wondering what he would have to say.


	10. Chapter 10

Name: **Off the map – Chapter Ten**

Rating: T

A/N: Last chapter!

* * *

><p>Hotch came by the next morning. Dressed in blue Jeans and a black polo shirt, he reminded Emily of the Aaron Hotchner she got to know in Italy.<p>

They sat down on the couch.

Hotch didn't look at her, when he started to talk about, what was on his mind.

"In the last weeks I have been unfairly hard on you. There is no excuse for my behavior and I hope you will accept my apology. I promise you that I will not go on like this. I can't offer you an excuse, because there isn't any, but I can try to explain myself. When we came back from Italy we agreed to keep things at a professional distance. I don't want that anymore. I'm watching you having nightmares and I feel helpless, because we don't talk anymore. I miss you, but instead of talking to you about it, I hurt you. I want us to be friends again. I want you to let me help you."

Emily was left speechless. She never expected Hotch to ever open up about how he felt to her.

"I miss you too" was all she could say while taking his hand. For a moment they just looked into each others eyes, searching for the friendship they were missing.

"So where do we go from here?"Emily finally whispered.

"How about a glass of wine on Monday after work. Just you and me and we talk."

"Sounds good."

On Monday they left work together and went to bar, were the whole team liked to go to. It had a cozy and relaxed atmosphere and made you feel at home. Hotch and Emily found a table and ordered some drinks. First things were a bit uncomfortable, because they hadn't done this in a while, but after a while they started to relax and talking became easier. The evening ended with Hotch and Emily agreeing that this had been a good idea and that they wanted to repeat it. From then on they tried to meet for a drink or just a short conversation over coffee every week. On one of this occasions Hotch finally got Emily to talk to him about her nightmares.

A month later they got a new case. The moment Emily learned that the team was going to Boston, she new this one was going to be special for both her and Hotch. Boston had been Foyets hunting ground and it was also the place Ian Doyle had tortured her.

Boston PD had found four dead man with missing hearts in the last two month and there was no doubt that there would be a more, if they couldn't stop the UnSub. The BAU team met with the local detectives, who had been working the case. Somehow the information about the missing hearts had leaked to the press, and now the media had named the UnSub the heart stealer killer. It was never a good thing, if the media showed that much interest in a case, because you couldn't predict how the UnSub would react to attention. So one of the first things to do was to calm down the media. Hotch took care of that himself, while started working the case. At the end of the day the BAU team had come to the conclusion, that they dealt with a female UnSub. The next day they were ready to give their profile to the local cops.

Emily had been a bit off all day. She didn't want to distract her colleagues, so she didn't mention to them, what had happened in the morning. When she had went to the break room to get some coffee, she had heard two policemen talk about the last time the team had come to Boston. It was when Emily had went after Doyle. They had talked about how Jack Fahey had been shot on the roof and in that moment a wave of emotions had hit her. Everything had come back to her. From how her heart had stopped, when she thought Doyle would have Dave or Ashley killed to how she felt when they told her that Ian Doyle had gotten away.

She had fought hard to block the thoughts from her mind, so she could concentrate on the case. When she was finally alone in her hotel room, she set down on her bed and cried. It was the first time since Paul shot Doyle that she let her feelings about Doyle out. Until now she had not aloud herself to face all the emotions inside her. She had been so focused on catching Doyle and on how others had been effected that she never dealt with how she herself had been effected. She let the tears run down her face and gripped a pillow to hold on to. Somewhere far away she heard her cell phone ring, but she was unable to answer it. Not soon after the ringing stopped someone knocked on her door. She didn't want to open it, but she knocking become louder and louder. Then she heard Hotch voice calling her name. Still shaking she opened the door. It took Hotch only one look at her teary face to close the door behind them and pull her into his arms.

"What happened?" he whispered.

"Nothing. It just all came back to me."

"Shh, it's okay." Hotch guided Emily to the bed and helped her sit down, before he sat next to her. Once more he wrapped his arms around her. Emily immediately started to calm down. His presence alone was like a protective blanket around her that sheltered her from her stormy emotions. She let her head rest on his shoulder and listened to his soothing voice.

"It's okay," Hotch repeated.

"It happens. It has to. Other wise it will eat you up from inside."

"Foyet" Emily guessed.

"I thought I had to be strong for Jack, that I couldn't allow myself to deal with what Foyet did to me, but I learned, that you have to face your demons to accept that it's over."

"I'm so afraid..." Emily breathed.

"Don't worry. You are strong. I know you. You will get over this. You are one of the strongest persons I know."

"Thank you."

Emily looked up at him. He had a concerned look on his face. In that moment Emily realized that no one in the world understood her better and there was no one she rather had here with her right now then him. She leaned up and pressed her lips on Hotch mouth. After a second he responded and kissed her back. As fast as the kiss had started it was over. Hotch broke of and moved away from her. He run a hand over her hair and said:

"I better go. Call me if you need anything."

Emily was left by herself wondering what just happened.

She pored it over and over in the next days and one week after they had returned from Boston, she finally reached a conclusion: she was in love with Hotch, but he had rejected her. After that facing him became almost unbearable for her. In the end she knew what she had to do. One night she waited until the rest of the team had left, before she went up to his office.

"Hoch, you have a minute for me?"

"Sure, sit down."

"I don't know how to say it."

"Take your time."

"You were right about what you said to me in Boston. About facing your demons, so that you can move on. It did help me and it make me think about what I want in my life. I figured what I want the most now is stability. I was dead and on the run. I had lost everything. My friends, my job, my life. All the time I wished for stability, the chance to have a place I can call home again. I'm not just taking about an apartment. I'm mean a place where your heart wants to be. Where someone waits for you, asks you how your day was, wakes up besides you in the morning. Just home. And I want to have kids. After Boston I thought about that now I can stop dreaming about this and actually start living it. But I want someone to start building it with me and I realized I'm not able to do so, if I see you everyday. I can not start something new, if I'm still in love with you. That's why I decided to leave the BAU."

It followed an awkward silence.

Then Hotch said: "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I have thought it over and over and it's what I want. I heart that they looking for some to take over a deputy ship at the FBI academy. "

"Teaching."

"Yes, well. I haven't done it before, but I think I can do it."

"I see. Have you talked to anyone about it yet?"

"No. I wanted to talk to you first. I thought I can just come back here and after a while things would go back to as they were before, but I forgot that people changed while I was away. We were all effected by what happened in on way or another, and that will never go away. Instead of holding on to the past, it's time to focus on the future."

"If that's what you want, I'm not going to be in you way. When do you want to talk to the team?"

Emily was a bit stunned. She hadn't expected that Hotch would be so cool about it. She had been prepared for him to ask her to think it over or not go at all, but not for this.

"I don't know."

"I'll see that I talk to Strauss tomorrow, so that I can give you the clear by tomorrow night."

"Great."

"I talk to you tomorrow then." Hotch grabbed a file on his desk and Emily understood that it was time to go.

Still perplexed she left his office and went home.

The next day Hotch called her in his office and told her, that she could start at the academy the following week. He wished her good luck and then gathered the team in the conference room, so Emily could tell them.

The rest of the team was shocked and wouldn't accept that she would leave. Only when she explained herself and pointed out that she was still in town to meet them all all the time, the calmed down.

Her last days with the team went by in a blur. There was lots of hugging, laughing and tears. Everyone made a point to spend as much time as possible with her. Only Hotch stayed out of her way. Emily was sad about it. She had hopped that they would part on good terms, but with him being busy all the time she didn't know on what terms they were parting. She was confused and hurt. When she came to say good-bye on her last day, there was a moment were she thought he would speak about it and tell her what had made him so unapproachable, but it didn't happen. He had just politely asked her if she was looking forward to her new job and wished her good look once more. They talked about it, that right know no new agent would take her place in the team, but that at one point someone new would join the team. Chief Strauss had hinted that if the word got out that there was a free spot at the BAU, there might be some agents interested in it. Emily knew Strauss was right. The BAU was an elite team after all many agents would jump pn the chance to work with them. Her last day with the team ended with dinner at the teams favorite restaurant.

Six weeks later Hotch and Morgan had some business at the academy. They had been asked to give a speech to a group of young police officers about the work of the BAU, so Morgan and Hotch had presented some of their cases and had explained how their profile had helped to catch the UnSub.

Judging from the questions after wards, the two felt that they goten their point across.

"You think they all want to be profilers now?" Morgan asked while him and Hotch walked down the hall.

"I'm happy if they realize when to call us one day."

"Right" Morgan agreed. Sometimes it was frustrating to see how long law enforcement officers waited before they asked for help. They thought it was a sign of weakness, when in actually just meant that they dealt with a case to big for them.

"Hey, Hotch would you mind if we made a quick stop to say hello to an old friend?"

"No, not at all."

Morgan lead the way around some corners and stopped outside a small class room. Inside Emily was just wrapping up her class.

While the students made their way out, Morgan made his way in.

"Hey there, Ms Prentiss."

"Morgan! What are you doing here?" Emily wrapped her arms around Morgan and he gave her a bear hug.

"We were just in the neighborhood and thought we check on the one that got away."

Until then Emily hadn't noticed, that Hotch was standing by the door.

"Hotch" she acknowledged him and they greeted each other with a polite hand shack.

Morgan was on his toes immediately. He looked suspiciously from Emily to Hotch.

"How have you been?" Emily asked nicely.

"Good, thanks for asking."

"Wow, hold on. When was the last time you two spoke to each other?" Morgan jumped in.

The charged silence that followed spoke volumes to Morgan. He was stunned. Ever since Emily left the BAU him and Emily had spoken once a weak to each other, even if it was just a short phone call and he knew that the others had stayed in contact with her as well. That way he had assumed, that Emily and Hotch had also kept contact. There had been no indication to think otherwise.

"You can't be serious, right?" he asked looking from one to the other. Neither was able to look him in the eyes.

"You do realize that Garcias birthday party is next week? She can smell evil vibes from 10 feet away and it will ruin her birthday for her."

"Morgan..."Emily started, but Morgan interrupted her before she could say more.

"Don't Morgan me. I'm going to leave you two alone and you work out what ever is going on here," He gave both Hotch and Emily a warning look to show that he meant every word he said.

"My baby girl will have a great birthday party!" With that said he walked out and closed the door behind him.

Hotch and Emily starred at the now closed door, before Emily slowly turned to Hotch.

"Now, that was quit an exit."

"I can just stay away from the party" Hotch offered.

"Or we talk about why we haven't talked." Emily responded.

Hotch didn't say anything to that.

"You haven't called me, you didn't answer my E-Mails. I think now would be a perfect time to tell me why."

Hotch still kept quite.

"Damn it Hotch! Just tell why you don't talk to me anymore!" Emily cried. She had really enough of it. She send him several e-mails, but after he hadn't answered either she had given up, even so it had hurt. She couldn't get it. Why couldn't they still be friends? Calming down a bit she asked gently:

"Why are you doing this?"

Taking a moment to think first of what to say, Hotch finally said:

"You didn't care what I had to say, why should it matter now."

"What?" Emily was confused by his words.

"When you left." Hotch explained curtly.

"What do you mean?"

"When you left, you didn't care about what I had to say. You just came to me and told me you couldn't work with me any longer. That you wanted to find someone to start a family with. Someone else than me. It didn't matter to you if I had anything to say to that. Once again you left without caring for anyone else's opinion. Same thing as when you went after Doyle."

Hotch turned around and started to leave. Emily needed a moment to understand what he was saying. Then she rushed around him and blocked the door.

"Hotch! Wait! I'm sorry, I just assumed there wasn't anything you could say, that would change the facts. You were my boss and I had feelings for you. After Boston I thought I spare us both the embarrassment."

She paused, then asked with a shaking voice:

"But, what would you have said, if I had asked?"

Hotch looked away, which made Emily step closer to him.

"What would you have said?" Emily whispered afraid of what he might say.

Hotch struggled with himself what he should do. Then he made up his mind and decided to tell her the truth.

"I would have told you that it's hard for me too. To see you everyday, wishing to have you close by my sight, and not being allowed to show you how much I care for you. That I would miss you if you leave, because I can't imagine my live without you. And I would have told you, that if we both want the same things we would find a way to make it work."

Neither one moved an inch. Emily could feel the tears starting to roll down her cheeks. Could she really have been so blind? She closed her eyes and tried to get her composer back. Then she felt his hands on her checks. He washed away tears with his thumbs. When she opened her eyes again he was standing before her with a sad look on his face. He was mourning the chance they had missed.

When he let go of her face and let his hands sink to his sides, Emily knew, that if he would leave now, it would be forever. After today he would never let her in again. He wouldn't just close a door to his feelings, he would close the whole book of their relationship.

So she graped his wrists and pressed her head again his forehead.

"Don't go. Pleas, don't go." When he didn't protest to their closeness, Emily gained hope.

"I'm sorry, that I didn't asked for your opinion. But you are wrong if you think I didn't want you. I only left, because I thought I couldn't have you, I thought you didn't want the same things I wanted. I thought you just wanted us to be friends."

Emily felt her heart racing.

"I still love you."

They lifted their heads to look at each other.

Then they slowly moved in for a kiss.

After that Hotch pressed Emily against his chest and said:

"I can't say that my feelings for you have changed, but a lot has happened. I'm not sure if the ground is not to burned to build a relationship on it. What if we just keep on fighting?"

"Do you want to start a relationship? Because in my eyes that is all that matters."

* * *

><p>One weak later Garcia had invited the whole BAU team to a bar to celebrate her birthday. Everyone besides Hotch and Emily was already there. Morgan was standing at the bar and kept an eye on the door. After the events at the academy neither Emily nor Hotch had said anything to him and now he worried that either or both wouldn't show up.<p>

Garcia, who had been laughing with JJ and Will, came over to him and handed him a red cocktail.

"Hey, Mr Grumpy, I want you to drink on of those and then charm me with you perfect smile. And remember it's my birthday, so you have to do what I want."

"Always, baby girl." Morgan said and took a sip from the glass.

"Sweet."

"Me or the cocktail?"

"Both."

Garcia looked around.

"Where is Hotch. Is he still at the office? Uh and I can't see Emily anywhere."

That moment the door opened and Morgan almost spat his drink on the floor.

"Well, look again. There she is." He nodded in the direction of the door.

What followed was a excited scream from Garcia, that raised everyones attention. When she run over to Emily, they all saw what had caused the explosion. Emily, wearing a nice red dress, had just walked in holding hands with Hotch.

"Is this what I think it is?" Garcia asked looking wildly from Emily to Hotch. When both smiled cheerfully and Emily said

" Yes, it is," it a was Garcias cue to throw her arms around Hotch and Emily and cry:

"That's the best birthday gift I ever got!"

What followed was by happy laughter by the the rest of the BAU team and a knowing smile on Rossis face.

* * *

><p>That's it. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed my little story. I at least had fun writing it, even so it took me much longer than I had expected. Until next time, may the sun shine all day long, everything go right and nothing wrong. May those you love bring love back to you, and may all the wishes you wish come true!<p>

* * *

><p>Update: I know there are lots of spelling and grammar mistakes in the story. My excuse: English is not my native language. I finally found someone to beta read and I'm hoping to be able to update this story with a beta read version soon.<p> 


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